Oilers need to get more out of slumping Nugent-Hopkins
As it stands, no active NHL player has played more games with the Edmonton Oilers than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
There is a good chance that the 31-year-old will soon surpass Kevin Lowe for the Oilers franchise record for games played with the club over the next couple of seasons. Nugent-Hopkins is the elder statesman of this franchise right now and he has been remarkably consistent in his production over the last decade or so.
That is why it’s so strange to see Nugent-Hopkins struggle so much to start a season. The Oilers veteran has looked nearly invisible on the ice despite playing as the second-line centre over the last couple of games. He has two assists to his name so far, but the underlying defensive numbers have been quite ugly for a player who has built a reputation as being a responsible two-way guy.
Underlying analytics on RNH's start to the season are downright UGLY right now.
Second-last on #Oilers in both xGF% (36.84%) and HDCF% (35.29%) as per Natural Stat Trick.
Not what you would have expected from a guy like Nuge.
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) October 21, 2024
According to Natural Stat Trick, RNH is second-last on the team with a dismal 36.84% expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) and is getting badly out-chanced with a 35.29% high-danger chance percentage (HDCF%). It’s vastly out of character for someone like Nugent-Hopkins and something that has certainly contributed to the Oilers’ slow start out of the gate.
RNH is no longer the play-driver that he was expected to be early on in his career. He has been able, for the most part, to adapt his game into being a brilliant complimentary winger for Connor McDavid. That is where he started the season and, honestly, it’s where he will perform the best at this point.
The last three games have proven that making Nugent-Hopkins the focal point of a top line will not work out. That second line was consistently the team’s worst over that stretch and saw them get outplayed by both bottom-six trios.
Oilers fans are not expecting RNH to become the offensive dynamo he was in 2022-23 when he scored 104 points. However, he’s seemingly lost the defensive game that has made him so reliable for all these years.
It’s nowhere near the point of calling Nugent-Hopkins’ season a lost cause, but this start is so uncharacteristic that it is setting off alarm bells.