The Darnell Nurse situation in Edmonton just got a lot more interesting.

After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Mark Spector reported that Nurse has asked for a trade and provided the Oilers with a short list of teams he would consider, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added another layer to the story.

According to Pagnotta, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings are two teams Nurse would be willing to approve a trade to.

That is where this gets fun.

Because this is not just a random list of teams being thrown around online. These two actually make sense when you look at the connections.

Pagnotta wrote that the “connections seem clear,” and honestly, they do.

Start with Pittsburgh.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has history with Nurse going back to junior hockey. Dubas was Nurse’s general manager with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the OHL. That matters. NHL people love familiarity. They love players they already know. They love players they have watched grow up, compete, lead, struggle, and mature.

So when Pittsburgh shows up as a team Nurse would reportedly approve, it is not hard to understand why.

Dubas knows the player. Nurse knows Dubas. There is already a relationship there. That does not mean a trade is close, and it does not mean Pittsburgh is desperate to take on the contract, but it does explain why Nurse might be open to it.

Then there is Los Angeles, and that one might be even more obvious.

Ken Holland is now the general manager of the Kings. He is also the general manager who signed Nurse to his massive eight-year, $74-million contract back in 2021 when Holland was running the Oilers.

That is a pretty major connection.

If anyone understands why Edmonton paid Nurse like a top-pair defenceman, it is Holland. He was the one who made the commitment. He knows the player, the person, the room presence, and the role Nurse played during Edmonton’s long playoff pushes.

Again, that does not mean the Kings are about to hand Edmonton a blank cheque. But it does mean the link is not crazy.

The most important part of Pagnotta’s report, though, might be what he did not say.

He did not say a trade is done. He did not say a trade is close. He did not say Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are battling it out for Nurse right now.

In fact, Pagnotta made it clear there are “a lot of moving parts” and that a deal is “not yet considered imminent.”

That is the line fans need to remember before running too wild with this.

Nurse controls a huge part of this process. He has a full no-trade clause until July 1, 2027, which means Edmonton cannot simply move him wherever they want. If the Oilers are going to trade him before then, Nurse has to approve it.

That gives him leverage.

It also makes Edmonton’s job much harder.

This is not a video game trade where the Oilers can just find the best offer and click accept. They need a team Nurse is willing to join. They need that team to actually want the contract. They need to figure out whether Edmonton has to retain salary. They need to find a hockey fit. They need to find a cap fit. And they need to do all of that with a player carrying a $9.25-million cap hit.

That is a lot.

But at the same time, this is the NHL. Big contracts do move. Teams talk themselves into players all the time, especially defencemen with size, experience, playoff mileage, and name value.

Nurse is not some depth player. He has played a massive role in Edmonton for years. He has handled tough minutes, played in big playoff games, and been part of a core that got close to winning. He is not perfect, and his contract is always going to be part of the conversation, but he is still a legitimate NHL defenceman with a long track record.

That is why this story is not going away.

For Edmonton, this feels like the beginning of a major reset around the edges of the roster. Nurse has been one of the faces of the blue line for a long time, but the money, the expectations, and the playoff disappointments have all piled up. Sometimes both sides reach the same conclusion: it is just time.

Sportsnet reported that Nurse now feels it is time to move on. That alone is a big deal.

For years, the conversation around Nurse was mostly about whether Edmonton could move the contract. Now the conversation has changed. It is no longer just, “Would the Oilers trade him?” It is, “Where would he actually agree to go?”

That is why Pagnotta naming Pittsburgh and Los Angeles matters.

It gives the rumour some structure. It gives fans two real teams to discuss. It also helps separate stronger reporting from the bigger five-team list floating around online.

Right now, the safest way to say it is this: Nurse has reportedly given Edmonton a short list of teams he would consider, and Pagnotta has specifically linked Pittsburgh and Los Angeles as two teams he would be willing to sign off on.

The rest of the list has not been confirmed by the bigger insiders yet.

So if you are an Oilers fan hoping this gets resolved quickly, maybe slow down a bit. This one has too many layers to be simple. But if you are a Penguins or Kings fan, this is definitely worth watching.

Because when a player with a full no-trade clause starts giving names, and insiders start connecting dots, the smoke usually does not disappear overnight.