Oilers ship longtime D Darnell Nurse to Sharks

For the first time since Edmonton tabbed him with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft, defenseman Darnell Nurse no longer belongs to the Oilers organization.

Edmonton moved the 12-year veteran to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday in exchange for defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp.

Nurse, 31, piled up 88 goals, 236 assists and a plus-66 rating in 798 regular-season games for the Oilers from 2014-26. The Hamilton, Ontario, native also delivered seven goals and 22 assists in 100 Stanley Cup playoff games. He ranks first on the Oilers in career blocked shots (1,466) and hits (1,692), second in games and fifth in points (324).

Nurse brings with him a $9.25 million cap hit on an eight-year contract that doesn't expire until after the 2029-30 season. The Sharks capitalized on their expansive cap room in comparison to the Oilers.

Mukhamadullin, 24, was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the 2020 draft. He posted five goals and seven assists in 50 games for the Sharks this season, which boosted his career totals to seven goals and 15 assists in 83 games.

Sharp, 21, has yet to play professional hockey since the Sharks selected him in the fourth round of the 2025 draft. He has posted 10 goals and 18 assists in two seasons at Western Michigan, which he helped win the 2025 NCAA championship.

In other moves on Wednesday, the Oilers signed free agent defenseman Ryan Shea to a five-year, $20 million contract, and traded a 2028 third-round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres for goaltender Devon Levi and a seventh-rounder in 2028. Shea, 29, had 35 points (six goals, 29 assists) in 80 regular-season games for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

Levi, 24, was 2-7-0 with a 4.12 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in nine games (eight starts) last season for the Sabres.

--Field Level Media