The Philadelphia Flyers missed out on the Darnell Nurse sweepstakes, watching from afar as the Edmonton Oilers sent the defenseman to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp.
While the Flyers have been relatively quiet this free agency cycle, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. So far, the Flyers have signed Noel Acciari to a two-year deal and added four additional players: Zack Aston-Reese, Jack Studnicka, Danila Klimovich and Cam Dineen.
It's been an overall quiet season for general manager Danny Briere, but an efficient one. In addition to his free-agency signings, he's extended Tyson Foerster and signed Dan Vladar to a five-year deal. While some may be disappointed in his lack of major moves, it should be a huge sign of relief that the Flyers didn't take a chance on Nurse.
Nurse's cap hit, coupled with his lackluster play and the cost to acquire him, makes the deal worse the longer you look at it. Briere made the right call by holding on to Nurse rather than pulling the trigger.
Why the Flyers made the right call not trading for Nurse
On paper, Nurse isn't a terrible defenseman by any means. Last season, he led the Oilers in blocked shots and hits and capped off the campaign with 24 points in 82 games. He'd be an ideal second-pairing defenseman in the Flyers' system, helping to generate some physicality and freeing up Jamie Drysdale to play to his strengths.
But that's the issue: Darnell Nurse isn't paid like a second-pairing defenseman.
Nurse carries an annual cap hit of $9.25M through 2029-30. He'll be 35 by the time the contract ends. On top of his cap hit, he carries a full no-movement clause through his first two years, which means he can't be traded, sent to the minors, or waived without his consent.
While he'll be a perfectly fine defenseman for the Sharks through the next couple of seasons, those last few years of his contract will age poorly. When paired with Jacob Trouba's massive contract extension, the situation looks worse and worse for the Sharks by the moment.
All in all, the Flyers made the right call by standing pat on this. There are plenty of other defensemen available they can target -- none of whom have the albatross of a contract Nurse carries.
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