While things aren't all sunshine and rainbows with the Detroit Red Wings right now, one thing's for certain: they avoided a disaster by not trading for Darnell Nurse.
Nurse, a former defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers, was acquired by the San Jose Sharks for Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp. In Red Wings terms, this would be the equivalent of sending Albert Johansson and William Wallinder for Nurse.
Thankfully, the Red Wings didn't proceed with this trade.
Why the Red Wings passed on Nurse
Nurse finished off last season first among Oilers in hits (137) and blocked shots (167). Had he played for the Red Wings, he would have been third in hits behind Marco Kasper (186) and Ben Chiarot (170) and second in blocked shots just behind Moritz Seider (180). His 24 points in 82 games would have been third among Red Wings defensemen last season.
If he had joined the Red Wings, he likely would've been slotted on the second defensive pairing alongside Justin Faulk. From there, he'd do what Ben Chiarot does, but paid more (and playing more).
The thing about Nurse is that he isn't a bad player by any means: his contract is just unconscionable.
For the next four seasons, Nurse carries an average annual value of $9.25M. He'll be 35 when his contract is finally up. If that isn't bad enough, it comes with a full no-movement clause for the next two seasons, transforming into a modified 10-team no-trade list during the last two.
Adding Nurse would make the defensive core inexplicably older than it was last year. Seider (25), Edvinsson (23) and Johansson (25) would make up the younger end, with Nurse (31), Faulk (34) and Chiarot (35) anchoring the older end of the spectrum. To have a (hypothetical) defensive core that old eight years into a rebuild would be borderline malpractice for any general manager.
For about a year, Nurse would provide a decent upgrade to Detroit's second pair. After that, though, things would quickly fall apart. The Red Wings have a slew of younger defensemen on the cusp of breaking through, and, with Nurse on the books, those defensemen would have been blocked from breaking through.
Red Wings free agency going according to plan
Dodging moves isn't the only smart bit of business general manager Steve Yzerman has gotten up to this week. Yzerman made a series of signings on Day 1 of free agency, locking down a fantastic even-strength scorer, a backup goaltender and a handful of Grand Rapids players to keep the AHL team strong. Best of all, he addressed the team's lack of toughness by trading for Vegas Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar.
Sometimes, the best move a general manager can make is not making a move. Missing out on Nurse is nothing short of a blessing for the Red Wings.
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