Player Discussion Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: The Silent Beast

[Fourier]

Nah, you want it on separate goals so they each get their moment (and their puck).

Nuge would get the puck. 156 is not really a save the puck milestone, but it is very meaningful.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

 

[SaltNPeca]

Gotta wonder if he has beauty secrets or this is all genetics

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

ho hum, 5 points tonight.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Leon knows. Nuge for selke

 

[Victor000]

Always said he was the team's most underrated player. Maybe not so underrated any more though.

 

[Louis Cypher]

I swear Nuge was 13 when we drafted him and is now coming into his prime.

 

[LemmyUlanov55]

He's in year 2 of his 8 year extension, so far I'd say he's underpaid by a couple of millions.
There's a good chance he'll hit 100pts. for the first time in his career, that's going to be a nice milestone for him personally.

Game #81 against Colorado will be his 800th in the league, would be sweet if he'll reach 100pts. that same night!

 

[nabob]

18 points in his last 9 games.

As a huge Nuge fan since day one this season has been amazing to watch him.

 

[Fourier]

It is interesting to see how easily this is dismised as being all about McDavid.

In 2020-21 in 56 games McDavid had 33G 72A 105Pts. Take that pace and prorate it to 75 games and you get 44G 97A 141Pts. Not exactly a big difference from what he is doing this year in terms of total points though the distribution of goals vs assists is different.

In that year Nuge played 53% of his 5 vs 5 time with McDavid. As is the case this year both players were a fixture on the pp. In that year Nuge had 16 G 19A 35Pts in 52 games which is equivalent to 23G 27A 50Pts over 75 games. This year Nuge has played with McDavid 23% of the time 5 vs 5. But this year after 75 games Nuge is sitting at 35G 61A 96Pts.

So here is the question. If this is mostly about McDavid's elevated play why is it that despite playing roughly 60% less with him at ES and about the same on the pp that Nuge's numbers are so much better than in the past even though McDvaid himself is on roughly the same pace as he was that year??? Is it possible that despite McDavid's incredible feats that other players may well be rising to the occasion??

We are seeing a very different Nuge this year. He has been much more aggressive offensively, more similar to his rookie year than to any recent year. His work on the pp has been exceptional even by his standards. But one huge difference is that he seems to me to be really dialed in shooting the puck.

 

[joestevens29]

Guy playing unreal and still nobody talking about him from the Eastern media

 

[ujju2]

He's in year 2 of his 8 year extension, so far I'd say he's underpaid by a couple of millions.
There's a good chance he'll hit 100pts. for the first time in his career, that's going to be a nice milestone for him personally.

Game #81 against Colorado will be his 800th in the league, would be sweet if he'll reach 100pts. that same night!

I'm going to see game 82 so it would be great if he hits it there. But also I'd love for him to just get it over with on Thursday.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

He's in year 2 of his 8 year extension, so far I'd say he's underpaid by a couple of millions.
There's a good chance he'll hit 100pts. for the first time in his career, that's going to be a nice milestone for him personally.

Game #81 against Colorado will be his 800th in the league, would be sweet if he'll reach 100pts. that same night!

Oilers paying 5m for 100 point nuge while flames gonna be paying 10m for 50 point hubes

Leon knows. Nuge for selke

I swear the only recognition nuge has got this year is when Sportsnet did a little thing and called him the leagues best powerplay specialist. He’s so much more than that though

 

[Porkleaker]

Guy playing unreal and still nobody talking about him from the Eastern media

That's fine, everyone can keep sleeping on him, then he can light it up in the playoffs.

 

[The Nuge]

It is interesting to see how easily this is dismised as being all about McDavid.

In 2020-21 in 56 games McDavid had 33G 72A 105Pts. Take that pace and prorate it to 75 games and you get 44G 97A 141Pts. Not exactly a big difference from what he is doing this year in terms of total points though the distribution of goals vs assists is different.

In that year Nuge played 53% of his 5 vs 5 time with McDavid. As is the case this year both players were a fixture on the pp. In that year Nuge had 16 G 19A 35Pts in 52 games which is equivalent to 23G 27A 50Pts over 75 games. This year Nuge has played with McDavid 23% of the time 5 vs 5. But this year after 75 games Nuge is sitting at 35G 61A 96Pts.

So here is the question. If this is mostly about McDavid's elevated play why is it that despite playing roughly 60% less with him at ES and about the same on the pp that Nuge's numbers are so much better than in the past even though McDvaid himself is on roughly the same pace as he was that year??? Is it possible that despite McDavid's incredible feats that other players may well be rising to the occasion??

We are seeing a very different Nuge this year. He has been much more aggressive offensively, more similar to his rookie year than to any recent year. His work on the pp has been exceptional even by his standards. But one huge difference is that he seems to me to be really dialed in shooting the puck.

I’d be curious to see the shot charts because I swear this is the most we’ve seen Nuge go to the dirty areas since his rookie season. He’s got one of the fastest releases (speed getting the puck off his stick, not speed of the puck) in the league so when he gets in closer, he’s much more likely to beat the goalie.

He’s also not cheating for defense nearly as much. For so long, he’s been stuck with plugs, and he basically just learned to chip it in and then try and cover for the defense. Now that we’re a legit good team, each year, he seems to be trusting the other players to do the right thing much more.

Oilers paying 5m for 100 point nuge while flames gonna be paying 10m for 50 point hubes


I swear the only recognition nuge has got this year is when Sportsnet did a little thing and called him the leagues best powerplay specialist. He’s so much more than that though

It’s so weird to call a defensive center a powerplay specialist. It’s one place I give Eakins credit. He got asked about playing against McDrai and instead called Nuge the best Swiss Army knife player in the league.

 

[SwedishFire]

Only 4 points to 100. Thats amazing.

Can he even sprint to top 3?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Nuge will hit 800 games as an Oiler on the 2nd last game of the season...quite the accomplishment!

 

[Mr Sakich]

is he the best value (non ELC) player in the NHL?

 

[ujju2]

is he the best value (non ELC) player in the NHL?

Draisaitl is still ahead in that department but he's up there.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It is interesting to see how easily this is dismised as being all about McDavid.

In 2020-21 in 56 games McDavid had 33G 72A 105Pts. Take that pace and prorate it to 75 games and you get 44G 97A 141Pts. Not exactly a big difference from what he is doing this year in terms of total points though the distribution of goals vs assists is different.

In that year Nuge played 53% of his 5 vs 5 time with McDavid. As is the case this year both players were a fixture on the pp. In that year Nuge had 16 G 19A 35Pts in 52 games which is equivalent to 23G 27A 50Pts over 75 games. This year Nuge has played with McDavid 23% of the time 5 vs 5. But this year after 75 games Nuge is sitting at 35G 61A 96Pts.

So here is the question. If this is mostly about McDavid's elevated play why is it that despite playing roughly 60% less with him at ES and about the same on the pp that Nuge's numbers are so much better than in the past even though McDvaid himself is on roughly the same pace as he was that year??? Is it possible that despite McDavid's incredible feats that other players may well be rising to the occasion??

We are seeing a very different Nuge this year. He has been much more aggressive offensively, more similar to his rookie year than to any recent year. His work on the pp has been exceptional even by his standards. But one huge difference is that he seems to me to be really dialed in shooting the puck.

This has been the crux of our convos on the player for years. That he could be much more dynamic offensively with his skillsets and reads and get back to that kind of level. Obvious that Nuge is a bit stronger now and this factoring into his shot, puck battle, but also his motor. Nuge, while always decently conditioned now has more energy and pace to bring his peak game through more shifts.

Nuge on the PP is much more dangerous, aggressive, less rote, and he's reading ice and making varied plays like he can. Formerly the conservative dump back to the point was too much of his contribution. But I think 1D PP's also benefit Nuge as it forces him to look at up options more rather than passing it back on PP. With his kind of passing and reads and anticipation its opened up another level.

Nuge anticipation is elite. He reads where the play is going, where the puck is going so well that he gets tons of chances. That being in the right spot so many times offensively or defensively, he gets the game so innately. If Nuge was just a bit stronger he'd be more dominant when he is in all the right spaces. Especially defensively.

His play has been incredible this season and it is the best season of his career by miles. This is the Nuge I wanted him to get to. I've often been a critic, but its because I knew he could have a Jean Beliveau like game in him. I knew we somewhere weren't getting everything on the table. McLellan to his credit pointed that out as well years ago. Well now we're getting every drop.

 

[The Nuge]

is he the best value (non ELC) player in the NHL?

He’s got to be up there. When you look at the top 10 in scoring, nearly everyone else has a 9.5+ million per contract signed. And the only guys in the top 30 who don’t have a contract signed for more than 6.96 are Nuge and Hyman

 

[Fourier]

I’d be curious to see the shot charts because I swear this is the most we’ve seen Nuge go to the dirty areas since his rookie season. He’s got one of the fastest releases (speed getting the puck off his stick, not speed of the puck) in the league so when he gets in closer, he’s much more likely to beat the goalie.

He’s also not cheating for defense nearly as much. For so long, he’s been stuck with plugs, and he basically just learned to chip it in and then try and cover for the defense. Now that we’re a legit good team, each year, he seems to be trusting the other players to do the right thing much more.

Here you go.

IcyData » Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Stats

Player stats for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

icydata.hockey

 

[Fourier]

This has been the crux of our convos on the player for years. That he could be much more dynamic offensively with his skillsets and reads and get back to that kind of level. Obvious that Nuge is a bit stronger now and this factoring into his shot, puck battle, but also his motor. Nuge, while always decently conditioned now has more energy and pace to bring his peak game through more shifts.

Nuge on the PP is much more dangerous, aggressive, less rote, and he's reading ice and making varied plays like he can. Formerly the conservative dump back to the point was too much of his contribution. But I think 1D PP's also benefit Nuge as it forces him to look at up options more rather than passing it back on PP. With his kind of passing and reads and anticipation its opened up another level.

Nuge anticipation is elite. He reads where the play is going, where the puck is going so well that he gets tons of chances. That being in the right spot so many times offensively or defensively, he gets the game so innately. If Nuge was just a bit stronger he'd be more dominant when he is in all the right spaces. Especially defensively.

His play has been incredible this season and it is the best season of his career by miles. This is the Nuge I wanted him to get to. I've often been a critic, but its because I knew he could have a Jean Beliveau like game in him. I knew we somewhere weren't getting everything on the table. McLellan to his credit pointed that out as well years ago. Well now we're getting every drop.

I don't think we have ever disagreed about the fact that Nuge has often been too passive offensively. In fact, This is a point I made many times to explain why his numbers didn't go up playing with McDavid as he has been even more passive with McDavid than on his own. I have no doubt that he could have put up better numbers had he leaned more on offense. But it is also clear that he has been doing what has been asked of him by his coaches, all of whom have typically said the same thing.

It is however notable that the last time he was aggressive like this was the year McLellan challenged him to be more forceful offensively after admitting that he had probably asked Nuge to focus too much on defense. That was at the beginning of the 2017-2018 season. Nuge had 18 ES goals that year in 62 games.

 

[OilersaretheMcBest]

He's in year 2 of his 8 year extension, so far I'd say he's underpaid by a couple of millions.
There's a good chance he'll hit 100pts. for the first time in his career, that's going to be a nice milestone for him personally.

Game #81 against Colorado will be his 800th in the league, would be sweet if he'll reach 100pts. that same night!

I can't see him slowing down. He's likely to get to 100 by Game 77

 

[Drivesaitl]

I don't think we have ever disagreed about the fact that Nuge has often been too passive offensively. In fact, This is a point I made many times to explain why his numbers didn't go up playing with McDavid as he has been even more passive with McDavid than on his own. I have no doubt that he could have put up better numbers had he leaned more on offense. But it is also clear that he has been doing what has been asked of him by his coaches, all of whom have typically said the same thing.

It is however notable that the last time he was aggressive like this was the year McLellan challenged him to be more forceful offensively after admitting that he had probably asked Nuge to focus too much on defense. That was at the beginning of the 2017-2018 season. Nuge had 18 ES goals that year in 62 games.

I was supporting, not countering your statement. Its just great to have this Nuge and to have this version of him actualized. Good for him, good for us as fans.