As I stated in my Connor McDavid highlight article, August has been a slow month filled with smoky weather and a lack of Oilers news. The anticipation with the season being around the corner is too much to handle at times, so I wanted to help out by reminding everybody how cool Ryan Nugent Hopkins is. 

After being drafted first overall in 2011, Ryan was among the three consecutive first overall picks we had between 2010 and 2012. Between himself, Taylor Hall, and Nail Yakupov, Nuge is the only first rounder left of the group and continues to be one of the many staples of our organization. Nuge impressed us in his rookie season putting up 52 points in 62 games. Since then he has had an up and down road, however he’s continued to put a smile on all of our faces since then. Let’s take a look at why we love him so much, shall we?

This goal was great for many reasons. Not only was it the first of his career, but it was also the first game of the Oilers season. Nuge came off an excellent pre-season with the team and was destined to be our saviour. This was also the day that kicked off Nuge’s coveted one arm fist pump goal celebration. Just two games after this one, Nuge finished off his first career hat trick as well. The kid was fire!

Nuge has been mostly known for his two-way play. There aren’t a lot of forwards in the league that back check like he does and I couldn’t even begin to count how many times he has saved us because of it. He also has the ability to show off some offensive skills as well and this is what makes Nuge so dangerous.

Nuge isn’t the strongest fighter, and he doesn’t do it often. But when he does it’s a sight to see! The Oilers were getting crushed by the Blackhawks here and Nuge was taking a lot of flack from Vinnie Hinostroza. What Vinnie probably wasn’t expecting was for Nuge to actually shed ’em. My favourite part about this clip was how Benning came over immediately to jump in. He must have thought Nuge was getting roughed around but then realized he was actually initiating the fight. The whole Oilers bench seemed pumped for Nuge and I couldn’t have been more proud.

If you’re just loving the Nuge content and don’t want it to stop, check out my favourite pictures of him here!