Giving up Nurse to take on Neal never crossed my mind. Interesting idea!

I don’t like the idea but that’s 11 million off the books if klef returns and jones looks good and broberg steps in might be possible.

I personally think Nurse will walk as a UFA, but if he can get a bigger payday from a new team, and be a major face of the franchise he might be ok with signing with the Kraken.

It's a terrible idea. Why would any sane person think that giving away a young 1st pairing defenseman under ANY circumstances would be a good idea?? And especially when the player attached to him is still quite serviceable, if overpaid? It makes ZERO sense and I'm 100% sure Holland wouldn't consider it for a moment.

If they don’t trade Nurse. Caleb Jones will be lost to expansion.

Not the worst idea

His best friends are Connor and Leon. He's not leaving in free agency and Holland knows it - that's why he was comfortable signing Nurse to a contract extension that walks him to UFA status.

I might come off as having an issue with nurse I move him more than anyone but he’s never struck me as the kind of person that will take a semi discount and will seek the highest bidder so with ufa status in his near future I have concerns. It’s not ideal to loose a guy of his stature but if an extension is going to be difficult for oilers to negotiate considering cap situation perhaps Seattle is an option worth exploring. I wouldn’t expose him over jones unless Seattle is willing to help out in another big way tho. I like Neal typically very against paying to remove players but in this situation would clear out over 11 million all in one go. I’m not against gaining that type of wiggle room.

I knew you would hate this idea. It’s thinking outside the box alittle depending on several other situations unfolding just right to allow this to become an option. I will admit I think it’s very very unlikely

Leaving aside the terrible value of sending Nurse to Seattle just to get out of the Neal contract for a moment...

Even if Klefbom comes back, he's unlikely going to be as good as he once was. Trading Nurse (for nothing) leaves you with a top-4 of Jones, Broberg, Bear and Bouchard - unless UFA Larsson is re-signed. And we know that Larsson's health has been questionable over the past couple of years. That top-4 has a lot of skill but you can't win with such a young group. Are you willing to re-set the timeline by 5-10 years? I bet McDavid isn't.

Things that need to happen for even myself to get behind this idea
1- team/klef find a solution to fix is shoulder better than currently expected. Unlikely but I love klef and can’t help but to hope for the best.
2- between broberg and jones team becomes convinced one is capable to play in the top four.
Some wishful thinking involved regarding klef but for the most part news on him has been very very very limited so while we know the issue vaguely we don’t have all those facts just yet.
Klef
Broberg
Jones
Russell
Lagesson
All LD options still with the team
Bear
Larsson no doubt resigning
Bouchard
Rd still with the team while it’s a young group could sign a vet on a short term deal.
I am not suggesting this as my plan A by any means it does go against a lot of my beliefs but 11 million suddenly opened up can help a tremendous amount.

I wouldn't count on Broberg being a top-4 option for a couple of years - even Sergachev isn't in the top-4 yet.

Also, sending Nurse to Seattle to get them to select Neal is HORRIBLE value. You're better off trading Nurse (if you're determined to do so) for a young forward and letting Seattle just make their pick. I don't see any possibility that Jones will be more valuable than Nurse though, so by making that trade you're making the team worse right away.