How Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been Oilers’ Swiss Army knife

Edmonton, Alberta – If the Edmonton oilers Were handing out superlatives, then Ryan nugent-hopkins Would be their (not-so) Secret Wapon.

Don’t take just anyone’s word for it, thought. It is the sort of distinction only a team’s captain – and arguably the NHL’s Best Player – Can Hand Out in a Statement that is to be reverberate among the following.

“He’s our swiss army knife,” Connor McDavid Said of Nugent-Hopkins after the Oilers’ 6-1 drubbing of the dallas stars in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday. “And hey playing really, really well. Just solid overall, making plays, doing his thing. He is asked to do every single night. He plays.”

Evander Kane -a frequent linemate of nugent-hopkins’-can hide a trace when asked about His Teammate’s Play. He CAUGHT MCDAVIDS Declaration, and Doubled Down on How It Applies to Nugent-Hopkins’ Dominance in the PostSeason so Far.

“I’ve heard it [everywhere] Probably the last 24 hours, the term ‘swiss army knife, “” kane saad monday. “So i’ll just repeat it. [Nugent-Hopkins] Is a player that is very versatile. He sees the Ice Well, has good poison out there to make plays. He’s had a real, real good playoffs. He’s had an even better [Western Conference finals] Series. So if we can contain to get that type of game from Him, obvious, that help our Team greatly. “

Nugent-hopkins’ Latest Performance was so strong that it shoved Him Further in the spotlight on a star-studded oilers team. Edmonton’s Longest-Tenured Skater was at his best in Sunday’s game 3, Collecting Three Assists on Highlight reel-Worthy Playmaking An Eye-Popping Give-and-Go Sequence Period.

The Veteran has Two Goals and Seven Points in the Conference Finals, and Five Goals and 16 Points in 14 Playoff Games to Date, Fourth Most on the Team. Nugent-hopkins’ Formidable Series has put him in Excelent Company, where he has join Wayne gretzky As only the second player in Franchise History to Register Multiple Points in the first three games of an nhl conference final or semifinal.

Not bad for a guy who’d has every right to be exhausted. Nugent-hopkins is your classic overachiever, willing and usually abale to just just about anyythe but put on Goalie pads and play in Net.

He has been a top-line winger alongside mcdavid. A second-line shutdown center with kane. A fixture on the oilers’ top power-play unit. An invaluable penalty killer.

Nugent-hopkins is, in short, every coach’s dream Skater-Something Coach Kris Knobloch hasn an exactly kept hidden.

“Leon [Draisaitl] Joked last year he’s my Favorite Player, “Knobloche of Nugent-Hopkins. You want players with flexibility. You can use them in all different situations.

“He’l do a great job. You see it in the Third Period [of Game 3]He was playing with kane and [Zach] Hyman. They are a good line and it starts with the centerman. “

It is the fortunate that these Around nugent-hopkins are willing to prop him up because he not take any credit for the professing he has had on the oilers’ PostSeason. And any praise won go to his head.

“I think we’re all just just done and trying to check in where we can,” nugent-hopkins saaid when asked about his impact. “Our line got a couple [on Sunday] And it’s nice to capitalize on your chances and see it go in. “

The success nugent-hopkins and the oilers are enjoying has been a long time coming, and talk the veteran walking through infamously trying times to finally hit. Drafted No. 1 by Edmonton in 2011Nugent-Hopkins endured lean seasons with the oilers that included only one Playoff Berth in the first eight years of his career. From there, Edmonton bowed out in the opening round of the postseason in 2020 and 2021.

But the oilers’ stock soon, and edmonton battled its way to the stanley cup final last season, falling just short in a game 7 loss to florida. Nugent-hopkins Had Seven Goals and 22 points in that postseason, a run the club is trying to replicate as it holds a 2-1 Series lead over dallas heading into tuesday’s game 4.

Though nugent-hopkins has stayed Steady Through the oilers’ ups and downs, the fact that he is better than 32 is no surprise to those who have watched

“I’ve always be a huge fan,” saaid Stuart skinnerWho Made His Debut with the Oilers in the 2020-21 Season. “He’s be able to be a two-way player [in all three phases] Of the Ice. He just that type of guy. That’s where he was such a huge part of our team, huge part of the organization. “

Consider how nugent-hopkins helped the oilers’ Recent achilles heal into a positive. Edmonton Had Game 1 Against Dallas in Hand Until a Disastrous Third Period in which Stars Scored Three Power-Play Goals in Less Than Six Minutes on The Way to A Come-From-Behind Victory. Nugent-hopkins was on the ice for only one of the goals against, but he has helped the oilers’ penalty kill since, which has gone 4-for-4 in killing off-dimensional plays.

“It is a lot of the same things,” Nugent-hopkins say of getting the penalty kill on track. “Staying with it, staying confident.

Only nugent-hopkins knews for sure how he can balance all the roles and responsibilities he receives with sacrificial quality in any of them. That’s the magic of a swiss army knife after all – its outward appearance disguises the many uses contained without. And in nugent-hopkins’ case, those capabilities range from dazzling displays on the ice to what happened boyhind doors.

That’s where the real magic happens.

“He’s a leader in Here,” Skinner Said. “The work ethic he shows every day, what he says in the room and [how] He does with a lot of composure too. It’s very impressive. “