The Edmonton Oilers are spending the majority of their time right now trying to move on from Darnell Nurse.

That’s what the latest update from Pierre LeBrun last night on SportsCentre with Jay Onrait. Many other NHL insiders have reported that the market is much more positive on Nurse than one might think. David Pagnotta has mentioned that on Oilersnation Everyday, as well as Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts Podcast.

The Nurse move needs to happen due to his contract situation. Despite the cap increasing so much, his $9.25 million average annual value is money the Oilers need to move to address other needs. 

No matter what you think of the Oilers’ veteran blueline, a void is going to be left on the backend once he departs. Nurse has averaged over 20 minutes per game over the past seven seasons, playing a key role on the penalty kill and in the leadership group.

Luckily, Edmonton does have an in-house replacement in Jake Walman. 

Injuries played a factor in an underwhelming season for Walman in 2026. You could argue injuries have always played a role in Walman’s seasons, with more than 60 games played just three times over his 320-game career. Nevertheless, he’s the Oilers’ best option to step up and replace Nurse in Edmonton’s top four.

With that said, Walman wasn’t pleasing to the eye last season either. He struggled tremendously at five-on-five, with a team-worst 32.56 scoring chances against per 60, resulting from allowing 61.82 shot attempts against per 60. His offensive production was average, too, so he wasn’t able to cancel out any of the errors.

The good news is that his stats are significantly inflated compared to when........

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