June 1, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

Leon Draisaitl had high praise for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins prior to the Edmonton Oilers’ Game 5 win in Dallas on Friday. “He’s so valuable in every facet of the game. He touches every part of the game. Have you guys ever seen him make a mistake? I really haven’t. So he’s such a good, smart hockey player. I think he’s probably the coach’s favourite player in the world.”

Head coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about Draisaitl’s comments about Nugent-Hopkins a short while later. “First of all, I’ve always got a favourite player. It just depends on the day, and it changes.” Knoblauch went on to talk about how Nugent-Hopkins is a big part of every aspect of the game for the Oilers.

Nugent-Hopkins showed everyone why he’s worthy of such high praise from his coaches and his peers by scoring two power play goals in Game 5, including what would eventually become the game winning goal. Knoblauch opened his post game press conference by letting everyone know that “I actually saw Ryan [Nugent-Hopkins] after the game and I told him that he was my favourite.”

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shoutouts: Oilers take pivotal Game 5 in Dallas

The two goals in Game 5 gave Nugent-Hopkins twenty points in these playoffs, which blows his previous career-best of fourteen playoff points out of the water. He had at least a point in eight of nine games from Game 5 of the first round until being held off the scoresheet in Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference Final. Nugent-Hopkins had ten points in the second round series against his hometown Vancouver Canucks, including the series winning powerplay goal in Game 7 in Vancouver.

His four powerplay goals in these playoffs puts him in a tie for second on the Oilers. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl get most of the credit for how great the Oielrs powerplay is, but Nugent-Hopkins’ role on the powerplay can’t be understated. Nugent-Hopkins is a powerplay wizard. He’s got a great feel for knowing which plays to make in which situations. Nugent-Hopkins is a great playmaker, and his wrist shot is lethal. Just ask Jake Oettinger about the Nugent-Hopkins wrist shot that beat him over the glove in Game 5.

Nugent-Hopkins also leads Oilers forwards in penalty killing ice time with 38:27 in sixteen games. The Oilers penalty kill has killed off 25 consecutive penalties dating back to Game 3 of the second round. Nugent-Hopkins is a large part of the success of the Oilers penalty kill unit.

Nugent-Hopkins is also a fixture in the Oilers top six. Knoblauch trusts Nugent-Hopkins to centre the second line whenever McDavid and Draisaitl play together. He is currently playing on a line with McDavid and Zach Hyman, a line that was phenomenal during the regular season. They were reunited in Game 4 of the second round. Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice for eight five-on-five goals for in the first eight games of the playoffs, and eight five-on-five goals for in the eight games since being reunited with McDavid and Hyman. The difference is that Nugent-Hopkins has been on the ice for four fewer five-on-five goals against in the eight game sample with McDavid and Hyman. Either way, he’s been on the ice for an average of one five-on-five goal scored per game regardless of of his linemates.

I can’t forget about the subtle play he made in double overtime in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. He got the puck in deep on a routine rush through the neutral zone. Then he won the race to the puck behind the Stars net and chipped it around the boards to Evan Bouchard. Bouchard found McDavid on a pass to the slot, and McDavid potted the double overtime winner. Nugent-Hopkins does all of the little things right, and success seems to follow.

The 2011 first overall pick is the longest serving current Oiler. Local product Stuart Skinner said that Nugent-Hopkins was his favourite player growing up in an interview after Game 5. Nugent-Hopkins was one of the bright lights that gave Oilers fans a glimmer of optimism throughout the Decade of Darkness. He has endured many dark and difficult seasons in Edmonton.

He didn’t get his first taste of playoff action until his sixth NHL season in 2016-17. It took him until 2020 to get his first playoff goal, and that was during the play-in series in the COVID bubble with no fans in the building. He got his first goal in an actual playoff series in a Game 4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets that ended the Oilers season. Once again, there were no fans in the building due to COVID.

Nugent-Hopkins finally got his first playoff goal at Rogers Place with fans in attendance in a Game 4 win against the Calgary Flames in the second round of the 2022 playoffs, which was in his eleventh NHL season. He scored two goals in that game, including the game winner. It was so amazing to see Nugent-Hopkins finally have such a big moment in the playoffs at Rogers Place, and to hear the fans chanting his name outside the media room during the post game press conference!

It was also amazing to see him get a series clinching goal in a Game 7 in his hometown. The same can be said of Nugent-Hopkins scoring two goals including the game winner on the road in a massive Game 5 win that has put the Oilers one win away from winning their first Western Conference title since 2006.

Nugent-Hopkins is starting to add more pages to his book of Oilers playoff moments. There’s one big moment that remains elusive to him and the Oilers team as a whole. They’re on the precipice of earning an opportunity to earn that elusive moment in later this month. He’s the coach’s favourite, and a long time favourite of Oilers fans. Nothing would be sweeter for Oilers fans than watching Nugent-Hopkins lift the Stanley Cup in an Oilers uniform.