The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers had preliminary discussions surrounding 31 year old defenseman Darnell Nurse dating all the way back to December. The rumblings are only heating up as three weeks ago the Penguins were among five initial teams that Nurse’s agent [hide] Paul Capizzano gave to the Oilers brass. Hockey reasons both sides are intrigued about a pairing. The Penguins, particularly the coaching staff have prioritized the need for size on the backend. They viewed the first-round series loss as a major Achilles in that area in stacking up against the Flyers blueline. There is a Nurse/Kyle Dubas connection dating back to juniors but there’s more. A big supporter of pursuing Nurse has also been assistant To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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: Chatter in league circles is Ryan Shea’s agent Matt Keator is confident of commanding four year offers in the $3.75 million per season range on the open market, sources say. The Shea camp is of the understanding Pittsburgh has other balls in the air, though, both sides could certainly circle back to each other in around free agency………Meanwhile the Anthony Mantha camp [hide] has always intended to seek a 4×6 type deal. It doesn’t sound like an atrocious playoff killed his value, though, we will see on that one. One talking point of the Mantha camp is a feeling the Penguins under-used him and he still potted 30+ goals. A belief Mantha himself even echoed to Penguins management in an exit meeting that annoyed them. Both sides are moving on as even if the Mantha market is weak, Pittsburgh is already limited in leaving spots open for a WBS forward or two. Chicago, Seattle two teams to watch…….. [/hide]

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