The Edmonton Oilers have their work cut out for them. To some fans, it may feel like other teams around them are getting better, while the Darnell Nurse situation is at a standstill. At the moment, the top three teams vying for his services are the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
In light of this, Heavy Sports has proposed a trade idea with the Bruins that would see the Oilers patch up a couple of holes. This includes adding a goalie who could replace Connor Ingram, who is rumored to be moving on.
Oilers Acquire:
- Michael DiPietro ($812,500)
- Mason Lohrei ($3,200,000)
- Lukas Reichel ($950,000)
Bruins Acquire:
- Darnell Nurse ($9,250,000)
- Quinn Hutson ($875,000)
This would be a mutually beneficial trade for both teams. The Bruins would add a top-pairing defense partner for Charlie McAvoy who can log big minutes. On the flip side, the Oilers get several assets they need, along with a project or two.
This trade proposal sees the Oilers acquire Michael DiPietro. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound goaltender was initially drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2017. In 45 AHL games during the 2025-26 season, he finished with a 34-8-1 record to go along with a 1.91 Goals Against Average (GAA) and a .930 Save Percentage (SV%).
The primary piece going back to the Bruins is Nurse. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound left-handed blueliner had a down year offensively, scoring 24 points in 82 games. Since the 2018-19 season, Nurse has been a lock for between 30-43 points a year, with minimal powerplay time. This past season, Nurse averaged 20:58 of ice time per game.
Edmonton Oilers Get Michael DiPietro to Replace Connor Ingram
The trade package returning to the Oilers includes Lukas Reichel, Mason Lohrei, and DiPietro. However, DiPietro would be the ideal target for the Oilers.
The Oilers have been linked to the goaltender in the past. With them losing out on Sebastian Cossa (who the Detroit Red Wings traded to the Utah Mammoth), DiPietro is a solid secondary option.
Both goaltenders are similar in that they have minimal NHL experience despite excellent AHL performances.
The one thing that DiPietro has over Cossa is maturity. DiPietro is older and can handle the mental and physical rigors of an NHL regular season much better than Cossa.
There is little more that DiPietro can prove at the AHL level, and he needs an NHL team to give him a kick at being a full-time backup in the big leagues.
Lohrei and Reichel also make a ton of sense for the Oilers to acquire. Reichel was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks during Stan Bowman’s tenure with the organization. That familiarity with the player, combined with a new environment, could be the kick Reichel needs to find his game.
Lohrei, on the other hand, is a young, puck-moving left-handed defender. Best-case scenario, he plays third-pairing minutes with the Oilers. Worst-case scenario is that he goes down to the Bakersfield Condors to work on his all-around game as a minute-munching blueliner. Either way, it’s a win-win.
Why Darnell Nurse Makes Sense for the Boston Bruins
Nurse’s game is what most people would consider “Bruins hockey”. Nurse can skate like the wind and hit like a freight train.
If that wasn’t enough, Nurse can provide five-on-five offense. Not only that, his best offensive seasons have come when the Oilers didn’t have Evan Bouchard manning the powerplay. Instead, those years saw Nurse take the lion’s share of the powerplay minutes, recording 40+ points.
Nurse is a better skater than Nikita Zadorov, despite both players having mean streaks in their game. A Nurse-McAvoy pairing could work wonders for the Bruins. It would open them up to exploring a deal for Hampus Lindholm or Zadorov.
They could also keep both and have themselves a solid second pairing.
Whether DiPietro is the answer to the Oilers’ problems in net is anyone’s guess. But at the very least, this trade proposal fulfills Nurse’s trade wish and brings back assets that can help the team now and in the future.
Oilers New Trade Pitch With Boston Bruins Makes Everyone Happy