New detail reveal Stan Bowman is preparing a blockbuster trade

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David St-Jean
May 24, 2026  (3:39 PM)

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Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

Jeff Marek tossed out a name the Edmonton Oilers fan base did not want to hear Sunday morning. Darnell Nurse to San Jose. Possibly for Collin Graf.

The idea surfaced on Daily Faceoff Live and made the rounds online by midday. Marek framed it as a fit, not a done deal.

His logic was simple. The Sharks need defensemen. The Oilers have a forward depth issue and a $9,250,000 anchor on the back end signed long term.

So he asked the obvious question. Could Mike Grier and Stan Bowman find a swap that solves two problems at once?

Nurse just wrapped a full 82-game season with 7 goals, 17 assists and a -12 rating. No power play points. None.

For a defenseman carrying that cap number, those numbers do not match the contract. They have not for a while.

Graf finished his year with 21 goals, 25 assists and a +6 rating across 81 games on a team that surrendered 292 goals against.

He chipped in two shorthanded goals and four game-winners while playing for $941,666. That is the kind of bottom-six bargain Edmonton has chased for two seasons.

The Sharks closed the year 39-35-8 and ranked 22nd overall. They need a top-four defender who can eat minutes against the Pacific Division's heavyweights.

Nurse fits that brief on paper. He played all 82 games, finished +5 over his last 10, and the contract is somebody else's problem if Grier wants the term.

But would San Jose really take on a $9.25M cap hit through that many years to land him? That is where this rumor gets sticky.

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The Oilers finished 14th overall at 41-30-11. They beat the Sharks 5-2 in San Jose on April 8 and dropped a 5-4 decision there on February 28.

That is not a roster that needs a rebuild. It is a roster that needs cap flexibility and a couple of useful forwards under contract for cheap. Graf checks one box. He does not unlock the other.

Honestly, this trade looks better for San Jose than Edmonton. Moving Nurse without retention or a sweetener returning a young player still on his entry-level deal would be a giveaway, and Stan Bowman knows it.

The bigger question is whether the Oilers are even willing to entertain the call. Because once that conversation leaks, the locker room hears it too.

Previously

Dangerous hit on Lane Hutson forces Gary Bettman decision before Game 3

New details reveal Ryan Johnson is preparing a blockbuster trade

Calls for revenge erupt after a Canadiens star is injured

POLL

41 MINUTES AGO   |   60 ANSWERS New detail reveal Stan Bowman is preparing a blockbuster trade Should the Oilers trade Darnell Nurse to San Jose for Collin Graf?

▢    Yes

▢    No

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