“He’s so valuable, right? In every facet of the game. He touches every part of it,” the Edmonton Oilers star said of his longtime teammate. “Have you guys ever seen him make a mistake? I really haven’t.”
Nugent-Hopkins rejected his alleged infallibility.
“I make mistakes. I make mistakes, for sure,” he said, laughing. “But you try to limit them. I try to play as smart as I can.”
Kris Knoblauch is also a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fan.
After Draisaitl joked that Nugent-Hopkins was “a coach’s favorite hockey player in the world,” the Oilers’ current coach agreed that there are times when the Edmonton forward is in fact his favorite player in the world. Like after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, when Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals to reenergize that struggling unit, hand all the momentum to the Oilers and spark them to a victory over the Dallas Stars that put them ahead 3-2 in the series.
“I actually saw Ryan after the game and I told him that, tonight, he’s my favorite,” the coach said. “Two goals. Played a really big part on the penalty kill, too.”
Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner has always been a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fan — in the “collecting his hockey cards, poster on the bedroom wall” sense.
The “Nuge” was his favorite player growing up as a fan, before they became Oilers teammates in 2021.
“That is a little bit embarrassing [to admit] with him sitting right beside me,” Skinner, 25, joked as he and the 31-year-old Nugent-Hopkins chatted with the media after Game 5.
“I truly believe he’s one of the best two-way players in the league. It’s pretty remarkable what this guy does, his work ethic day in and day out,” Skinner said. “But I’m more impressed with the type of person that he is when he is off the ice. He was my favorite player growing up, and being able to play with him, I’ve learned a lot. There’s a lot more to him than just hockey, and that’s been one of the coolest things: to just become great friends with this guy.”
Nugent-Hopkins has a lot of fans rooting for him. He’s the longest-serving Oilers player — 881 career games over 13 seasons — on a team that’s now one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. He’s the connective tissue from the Oilers’ era of unfulfilled potential to the reign of Connor McDavid and Draisaitl, who are determined to fulfill their potential as champions.
If they do, Nugent-Hopkins should be one of the first teammates who is handed the Stanley Cup in celebration. He has meant that much to the Oilers.
“I think he’s the heartbeat of our team. He’s the one that shows the culture,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “And he’s been here for long time.”
THE MUSTACHE is trying.
It sits on the upper lip of Nugent-Hopkins, attempting to age up a face that still resembles the one on stage at the 2011 draft, when he was selected with the first pick. His 13 challenging seasons in the NHL haven’t weathered him in body or in spirit.
The first time Nugent-Hopkins put on an Edmonton Oilers jersey was at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Devils won the lottery that year, but the Oilers, still mired in a multiyear rebuild, retained the first pick with the league’s worst record (62 points).
Nugent-Hopkins was a playmaking center with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. He was the consensus top pick, but scouts also liked how fellow prospects like defenseman Adam Larsson and forward Gabriel Landeskog projected as NHL players.
On draft day, the Oilers called his name, and the young center was happy that they did.
“It’s a big honor. I know all the great players who have come through Edmonton,” he said. “Just getting to join a franchise like that is a really good feeling.”
Before he was drafted, Nugent-Hopkins visited Edmonton and saw photographs that chronicled all of the Oilers’ previous championship teams, his eyes scanning the faces of over a half-dozen Hall of Famers. He was drafted to join a collection of young players that many felt had the potential to bring Edmonton its first championship since the end of that dynasty.
When Nugent-Hopkins was drafted, the Oilers hadn’t made the playoffs since 2006. That lack of success gave Edmonton an unprecedented run of top-10 picks: By the time the Oilers drafted defenseman Phillip Broberg at No. 8 in 2019, they had selected 11 players in the first 10 picks of the draft over a span of 13 seasons.
Nugent-Hopkins was the second consecutive top pick for Edmonton, which picked winger Taylor Hall No. 1 in 2010. He arrived in Edmonton with Sam Gagner (6th, 2007), Jordan Eberle (22nd, 2008), Magnus Paajarvi (10th, 2009) and Hall already in place; the next two drafts would yield Nail Yakupov, the Oilers’ third straight No. 1 pick, and Darnell Nurse (No. 7, 2013).
Then the game changed. Draisaitl was drafted third in 2014, followed by McDavid at No. 1 in 2015. Their arrival signaled a shift in strategy: The Oilers were not going to be married to their previous high draft choices if they weren’t developing into NHL stars or if they could bring back players to build around their generational talent, McDavid, through trades.
Hall was traded to New Jersey in a one-for-one deal for defenseman Adam Larsson in 2016. Yakupov, considered a significant draft disappointment, was dealt to the Blues in 2016. Eberle was shipped to the New York Islanders in 2017 in a deal for Ryan Strome. Paajarvi was dealt well before that in a trade for David Perron in 2013, while Gagner was traded to the Lightning in 2014.
Nugent-Hopkins felt those winds of change, too. Sportsnet reported in 2016 that the Oilers offered him to the Nashville Predators in a deal to land defenseman Seth Jones, who was eventually traded to Columbus. A search for “Ryan Nugent-Hopkins” and “trade bait” reveals the speculation was an annual rite.
Sportsnet referred to him as “expendable” in light of the Oilers’ depth at center. His contract — $6 million average annual value, locked up for his prime years — was cap-friendly, but his offensive production wasn’t quite where many expected it could be after several seasons in the league. From 2011 to ’18, there were 70 players who amassed more points than Nugent-Hopkins.
In the first eight seasons of his career, the Oilers made the playoffs just once. Those weren’t fun times for him.
“Your early years, especially when you’re coming from junior where you had some success, it can be frustrating, for sure, to be missing the playoffs year in and year out,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
True to form, he pulled some positives out of the negative.
“At the same time, you get extra time to work on your game in the summer. As a young kid, there’s lots to grow into physically and mentally,” he noted. “Just kind of mature. To figure out how you’re going to be a good player in this league.
“But it also makes you hungry to make the most of these opportunities. You understand that it’s not that easy to make the playoffs. Then when you get a chance, you’ve got to be hungry for it.”
Nugent-Hopkins wanted success. More to the point, he wanted it in Edmonton. He followed a seven-year contract with an eight-year deal that he signed in June 2021. He was committed.
The Oilers were soon rewarded for their trust in Nugent-Hopkins.
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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slaps home his 2nd goal for Oilers
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores his second goal to pad the Oilers’ lead.
IN THE NHL, there are star offensive players who help run a power play and strong defensive players who are keys to a penalty kill. Rarer are the players who “touch every part of the game” and do it well, as Draisaitl said of Nugent-Hopkins.
It’s something Zach Hyman saw immediately when he joined the Oilers in 2021.
“He touches all aspects of the game. Power play, penalty kill, plays tons at even strength. He’s out in the last minute of the game, whether you’re up or down,” he said. “On the ice, he just does it all for us.”
That’s a point of pride for Nugent-Hopkins. Intangibles that used to seem expendable on less successful teams are now seen as invaluable on a Cup contender: his two-way game and all the little things he does for the Oilers.
“It’s something that I’ve definitely taken a lot of pride in over the years. Worked on both sides of the puck. I want to be relied upon in those situations. You’ve got to be dialed in at all times,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Sometimes the power play can make the difference. Sometimes the PK can make the difference. And sometimes it’s 5-on-5. I want to keep improving on both sides of it and see where we can get.”
His offense started to tick up as McDavid and Draisaitl became more dominant. But the 2022-23 season was like nothing anyone expected from Nugent-Hopkins: 104 points, fueled by 53 points on the Oilers’ incredible power play. He scored 37 goals that season, obliterating his previous career high.
“He’s a big part of the power play,” Knoblauch said. “He’s not the driver, but he’s a great facilitator. He has a lot of good things that help that power play work.”
It worked in Game 5 of the conference finals. The Oilers’ power play was 0-for-6 in the series heading into Friday night. But Nugent-Hopkins scored late in the first period, backhanding the puck past Jake Oettinger after an Evan Bouchard point blast, and then scored again on the power play 1:06 into the second period on a snap shot from the slot.
“If you’re going to draw a road game, that’s pretty much what you want to do, right?” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “They want to come out, get two power-play goals early in the game, get the lead and then defend well all night. So it’s tough to crack through.”
The Stars were 0-for-2 on their power plays, and 0-for-11 in the series. Nugent-Hopkins has played a major role in that, leading all Oilers forwards in short-handed ice time (9:46) against Dallas.
The way Nugent-Hopkins plays epitomizes how the Oilers have been able to keep the Stars in check: smart hockey, nothing too flashy and with minimal mistakes.
“It starts with getting through the neutral zone, not turning pucks over and not giving them anything easy coming back at us,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Sometimes you got to live to fight another day. You don’t need to be too aggressive.”
Nugent-Hopkins has seen more days as an Edmonton Oiler than any of his teammates. Most of them were disappointing.
But they’re finally getting better — and the Oilers are now five wins away from the day Nugent-Hopkins and his many fans have been waiting to experience.
“This is why we play. Why we work so hard at our craft to get ourselves in these situations and to be a part of a group like this,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
“When you’re in it, there not a lot of time to sit back and reflect too much. But this is all you can ask for. It’s going to take a lot of work, but we have an opportunity here.”
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
The award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association.
MacKinnon, 29, tied Kucherov for the NHL assists lead with 84 and totaled 116 points this season. MacKinnon is the reigning Hart Trophy recipient as the league’s MVP.
Makar, 26, is a first-time finalist for this award and is also up for the Norris Trophy, which was announced Tuesday. He led all defensemen this season in goals (30), assists (62) and points (92).
Kucherov, 31, won his second straight Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in scoring with 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists).
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.