{"id":831016,"date":"2026-07-28T08:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/831016\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:34:11","slug":"oilers-mcdavid-calls-nurse-departure-extremely-disappointing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/831016\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers\u2019 McDavid calls Nurse departure \u2018extremely disappointing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">The <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" hreflang=\"en\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are going to look a little different come next fall, especially on the blue line after <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/news\/darnell-nurse-san-jose-sharks-edmonton-oilers-trade-no-retention-cap-hit-nhl-free-agency\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Darnell Nurse was traded<\/a> to the <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/teams\/san-jose-sharks\/line-combinations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Jose Sharks<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">When s<a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tsn.ca\/nhl\/video\/2026\/07\/27\/extremely-disappointing-for-mcdavid-to-see-nurse-leave-but-likes-oilers-three-goalie-approach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" hreflang=\"en\">peaking to the media at the Zach Hyman Golf Classic<\/a> on Monday, Oilers captain Connor McDavid was asked about the departure of Nurse. McDavid admitted that he\u2019s bummed by the end result, but understands it\u2019s all part of the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u201cIt\u2019s obviously disappointing to lose someone like Darnell and the rest of the guys,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cBut it\u2019s part of the business, unfortunately. It\u2019s been hard to really put into words what Nursery\u2019s been to not only me, but the whole group and everybody in Edmonton. So extremely disappointed to see that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">McDavid and Nurse have been on the same team for as long as the former has been in the league. Nurse made his NHL debut during the 2014-15 season, with No. 97 joining the club the following year. The two have seen the Oilers go from doormat to one of the best teams in the league, helping the team advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, before shockingly being eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round this past spring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">Nurse had <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/news\/darnell-nurse-edmonton-oilers-nhl-trade-request-report-news-rumors-speculation\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">requested to be traded from Edmonton<\/a> earlier in the offseason, despite the fact that he remained one of the Oilers\u2019 top blueliners. However, he was constantly criticized by the fanbase for his lack of consistency, especially given the fact that he had a big-dollar contract \u2013 an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $9.25 million that carries through the 2029-30 season. The contract carried a full no-move clause, which allowed Nurse to hand-pick his potential suitors. A rising team in San Jose seemed to be a viable option for the 31-year-old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">In exchange, the Oilers received defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">Despite losing Nurse, McDavid seems to be optimistic about the team\u2019s chances heading into 2026-27. With Stanley Cup champion Mike Babcock joining the team as head coach, and players like forward Mathieu Joseph and Frederik Andersen coming into the fold, the Richmond Hill, Ont. native says there\u2019s a reason to be enthralled about the Oilers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u201cAt the same time, really excited about some of the additions. New coach, some good players. It\u2019s an exciting time in Edmonton.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers are going to look a little different come next fall, especially on the blue line&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-831016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}