Sharks Acquisition of Darnell Nurse Isn't the Dooms Day Fans Think It Is

The San Jose Sharks made waves in the hockey world for the wrong reasons as free agency opened on July 1 when they acquired Darnell Nurse for defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin and prospect Zack Sharp. Most notably, San Jose is taking on Nurse’s entire salary, which is a main catalyst in uproar and head scratching. 

It’s been no secret that San Jose has needed help on the blue line for quite some time. While exciting prospects like Sam Dickinson played in the NHL last year and exciting prospects like Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin were selected in the draft, the Sharks needed to fill holes on defense. Many seem to think that Darnell is a square peg in a round hole, especially for a young team that needs to pay their core soon with expiring entry level deals looming. 

Why such vitriol around acquiring one of the top defenseman from a team that made the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row? Well, Oilers social media have placed a lot of blame on Nurse for being a key reason they fell short both times at the hands of the Florida Panthers. It seems like every time Nurse’s name is mentioned, he is being sewered in a way that feels personal. Typically when players get a big pay day, it’s a transformative experience because their life has changed for the better. In Nurse’s case, his $9.25 million AAV that ballooned expectations for his production has come with unrelenting and inescapable criticism when he doesn’t play like a top defensemen. 

Don’t get me wrong, Nurse is overpaid for what he is, which is a big bodied, good skating defenseman that can make brutal mistakes with the puck in inopportune times, but Nurse is also a tough, physical, nasty player that battles every night and should drastically improve the Sharks biggest flaw which is keeping the puck out of their net. 

If Nurse’s AAV was just a few million dollars less or if the Oilers actually pulled off one of their two Stanley Cup Final appearances, there would likely be far less discourse surrounding him. He got paid to be a number one defenseman, but plays like a solid second pair d-man. Go figure. 

Hockey fans loudly hated the trade made by Mike Grier on social media, but that is an overreaction. Again, not ideal to pay the full $9.25 million, but I have a question for any nay-sayers out there. Would you rather play Nurse, or John Klingberg? How about Dmitri Orlov? What about Timothy Liljegren, Mario Ferraro, or Nick Leddy?

Nurse is certainly an upgrade over Mukhamadullin who was traded for him and is most definitely an upgrade over all the defenseman I just named that were the reason the Sharks missed the playoffs by four points last season. 

As American players who won gold at the Olympics are trying to flee or have already fled their Canadian market teams continue to dominate headlines, it makes sense Nurse felt burnt out in Edmonton. Nurse seems like an obvious player that will benefit from a change of scenery.

Relentless noise about how bad he is can be exhausting. San Jose famously doesn’t have the aggressive media market that cooks players with a spindle over an open fire. He will feel significantly less pressure which allows him to refocus on his game and takes a massive weight off his shoulders. 

Another aspect people don't seem to understand is that the cap is going to go up and the Sharks are going to shed some dead money after then end of the 2026-27 season. $6.5 million from Dmitry Orlov, $3.5 million from Barclay Goodrow, $2 million from Adam Gaudette, and $8 million from Logan Couture who had to unfortunately retire due to injury but is collecting a check as a thank you from the Sharks organization while also helping them hit the salary floor are all set to come off the books. Quick math tells me that is $20 million erased due to be erased. What is the AAV of the unpopular Nurse and Jacob Trouba deals? $17.5 million.

The Sharks had one of the worst defenseman groups in the NHL a season ago. Today, they have retooled to a far more competitive unit that could be enough to get them to the playoffs on the backs of a supremely talented forward group led by one of the biggest stars in the game in Macklin Celebrini.

Are the Sharks a perfectly built team? No. But did they improve substantially going into 2026-27 compared to 2025-26? Absolutely, and that includes Darnell Nurse.