Oilers land mean defenseman, but an unexpected twist changes everything

Nikita Zadorov shut down a trade to the Edmonton Oilers, and it cost the Bruins a deal for Darnell Nurse.

Multiple sources, including PuckEmpire, confirm the Bruins defenseman refused to waive his trade protection this week.

That refusal mattered. A lot.

According to David Pagnotta, there was a reported deal on the table between Edmonton and Boston involving Nurse. It got nixed because of Zadorov.

Multiple sources, including PuckEmpire, confirm that Nikita Zadorov refused to waive his trade protection to go to the Edmonton Oilers.

According to David Pagnotta, there was a reported deal on the table between Edmonton & Boston involving Nurse, which was nixed because of it.

Think about that for a second. One player's signature, or lack of it, and an entire trade between two playoff-caliber franchises falls apart.

Zadorov is no throwaway piece, either. He posted 22 points in 81 games this year, with a plus-18 rating that led a lot of Boston's back end.

At $5,000,000 against the cap, he's been a bargain for what he brings on the blue line. Sturm has leaned on him all season.

Why Boston wanted out of the Zadorov math

Nurse, for his part, carries a $9,250,000 cap hit, the tenth-highest among all NHL defensemen. He put up 24 points and went minus-12 in 82 games with Edmonton this year.

That's a rough return for that kind of money, and it's probably why Stan Bowman was shopping him in the first place.

Boston and Edmonton split their season series, with the Oilers winning 3-1 in Boston back in December and the Bruins answering with a 6-2 win in Edmonton on New Year's Eve.

So this wasn't some hypothetical fit. These are two teams that know exactly what the other brings.

Here's the thing about no-trade protection. It exists so players have a say in their own lives. But it also means front offices can build an entire plan around a guy, and watch it collapse because he says no.

Don Sweeney now has to figure out where Boston's blue line goes from here. Because whatever the plan was with Nurse, it's dead.