That'll make Nurse a UFA give him a 2 or three year deal for slightly less

Yes you are right. Maybe a 3year 3.4m per year?

Matt Cane has a site where he projects contract AAV values and term for various UFA's and RFA's. He's usually pretty accurate. He ranks Nurse right up with Trouba and Dumba, each expecting contracts in the $5M range. So a realistic contract demand for Nurse might be 3yrs x $5.0M. It will be interesting to see where he lands, he's a valuable asset to the Oilers. If Trouba/Dumba sign first, Nurse's market value may go up.

Just had a look at Colin Miller (Vegas) who has similar stats and age, and just signed for 4yrs at $3.9M. So maybe Nurse's number can be in the $4.0M range too. Difference is Miller is a #4-5 D-man (he's on 3rd pairing on Vegas depth chart) while Nurse is more likely a #1-2 guy on the Oilers (#1LD on their Roster Resources depth chart)

Miller had 41pts last year, Nurse had 25pts. hows that comparable numbers??

Nurse had a good year last season. It was his first good year, so we’re not sure if it’s an outlier. The prudent thing to do is give him a bridge deal - say 7 M over two years. Afterwards we can see what we have with this player and give him dollars and term once it’s warranted. But not before.