Edmonton Oilers need to re-sign Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
The Edmonton Oilers must prioritize keeping RyanNugent-Hopkins around.
There are few, if any, teams in the league who have struggled over the last decade like the Edmonton Oilers have. After having the first overall pick for three years straight from 2010-2012, many expected them to become one of the most dominant teams in the league for years to come.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and as a result they once again selected first overall in 2015, this time selecting Connor McDavid. As for those first three first overall picks, Taylor Hall was traded by the Oilers prior to the 2016-17 season and is now set to become a free agent.
Nail Yakupov, who turned out to be one of the biggest draft busts of all time, is in the KHL. The only one of the three who remains with the Oilers is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
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Despite going through very tough times with the Oilers organization over the years, Nugent-Hopkins has never complained and continues to give everything he has every game, which has not gone unnoticed by fans. Thankfully, the Oilers have seemed to finally start to turn things around, thanks in large part to the play of the 27-year-old forward.
While Nugent-Hopkins has been known as a solid two-way center for some time now, he has really picked up his offensive game the last two seasons, giving the Oilers some secondary scoring which has helped take some of the weight off of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
After setting career highs with 28 goals and 69 points during the 2018-19 season, Nugent-Hopkins had 22 goals and 61 points in just 65 games this season prior to the NHL suspending play, which had him on pace for 76 points.
Now, as he is truly beginning to show why he was worthy of the first overall selection back in 2011, his seven-year, $42 million deal is nearly coming to an end, as he has just one season remaining. Though it isn’t an immediate issue, the Oilers need to work on getting an extension done for a number of reasons.
Two-Way Ability
As mentioned previously, Nugent-Hopkins has been known throughout his career, especially by Oilers fans, for his extremely solid two-way ability. While his offensive numbers early in his career didn’t look worthy of a first overall selection, anyone who watched him knew just how much value he had thanks to his solid defensive play along with his outstanding work ethic.
Though he doesn’t get the credit McDavid and Draisaitl do, he is much more responsible defensively. This is not to take anything away from the Oilers top two players, who it could be argued are the best two players in the entire league.
Instead, it is to stress the importance of how much this team relies on him and how much of a blow it would be if they were to lose him via free agency.
He is a player who has earned the trust of every coach the Oilers have had during his tenure as a player who you can put on the ice when you need to spark the offence, as well as a guy who can be thrown on to protect a lead with a minute remaining.
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Secondary Scoring
Nugent-Hopkins provides the Oilers with something they severely lack, which is offence from anyone not named McDavid or Draisaitl. This past season for example saw Draisaitl put up 110 points, while McDavid finished second on the team with 97 and next Nugent-Hopkins with 61. After that, it dropped all the way down to 34 in Zack Kassian. In fact, Kassian and James Neal were the only other two Oilers forwards who broke the 30-point barrier.
Even with Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers secondary scoring needs to be addressed by general manager Ken Holland. Losing him would just create a further problem and likely have the Oilers on the outside looking in again when it comes to the playoffs.
Versatility
A big part of Nugent-Hopkins failing to put up big numbers for some time was due to the team’s lack of wingers. As a result, he was often lined up with players who had no business being part of an NHL teams top six let alone top nine wingers. This has begun to change over the past two seasons, and a big reason for it is because of his versatility.
After spending his entire career playing center, the Oilers have started to move him around a bit, having him sometimes still center the second line on his own but some games having him play on the wing with either McDavid or Draisaitl. The results speak for themselves, as his numbers have increased significantly.
Another great element Nugent-Hopkins brings to the table is his penalty killing ability. Often times in the NHL, the penalty kill units consist of third and fourth line players, but that isn’t the case with him. He is relied on nearly as much as any other Oiler forward when it comes to being a man short, and he has excelled in this role. In fact, thanks in large part to his play, the Oilers finished second in the entire NHL with a penalty kill percentage of 84.4%.
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Leadership
Another reason Nugent-Hopkins likely failed to produce big offensive numbers early on was due to the fact he played on a very bad team. This can destroy a young players confidence and sometimes ruin them as players.
Look no further than Yakupov, who came into the league with comparisons to Pavel Bure and ended up becoming a laughing stock. Sure, some of that was his own doing, but playing for a team who was losing as often as the Oilers were couldn’t have helped.
While many players, including but not limited to Yakupov, complained to the media and often appeared to sulk on the ice, Nugent-Hopkins was not one of them. It had to be frustrating at times and he had to have questioned the direction the franchise was going, but he never voiced any of those frustrations to the public. As a result, he has been an assistant captain of the team for seven seasons now, and is a great veteran for the Oilers young players to look up to.
Fan Favorite
Last but not least is that Nugent-Hopkins is without a doubt the number one fan favorite on the team. Of course Oilers fans know and appreciate that they have arguably the greatest player in the world in McDavid, but you’d be hard pressed to find an Oilers fan who doesn’t love Nugent-Hopkins as a player.
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These past few years, and especially this past season given his contract status, many fans have started tweeting out the hashtag #KeepNugeForever, in hopes that him and the team will be able to agree on an extension. At the end of the day, it is a business, but after all the tough years Oilers fans have been through recently, it would be nice to see them get their wish here.