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Nugent-Hopkins vs Neal Pionk: Top Edmonton Oilers fights of 2025-26

Jul 20, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 20, 2026, 13:54 EDT

This summer, Oilersnation will recap the top five Edmonton Oilers goals, the top five fights, and the top five overall moments from the up-and-down 2025-26 season.

Every once in a while, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins forgets that he was picked first overall.

It’s rare, but Nugent-Hopkins isn’t afraid to drop the gloves in certain situations. One of those fights came in 2025-26, as he squared off with Winnipeg Jets defenceman Neal Pionk in the penultimate game of 2025.

This fight was the fourth-highest-ranked Edmonton Oilers fight of the season. Let’s take a look.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins throws down with Neal Pionk

On Dec. 29, 2025, the Oilers visited the Jets. Midway through the first period, the longest-tenured Oiler carried the puck into the zone and followed the puck to the half boards after Pionk knocked it off his stick.

Pionk finished his check, clipping Nugent-Hopkins in the back of the head with his elbow. Nugent-Hopkins responded with a punch, and the two dropped the gloves. Both players landed a few punches, but none of them did much damage.

In the end, it was a pretty even and competitive fight. Of the 65 Hockeyfights.com voters, 25 of them awarded the long-time Oiler the win. However, 19 individuals gave Pionk the decision, while 21 voters believed the fight to be a draw.

The fight itself earned a 5.49 rating, the fourth-highest-rated Oiler fight this past season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ fighting history

It isn’t Nugent-Hopkins’ best fight, though.

The Burnaby native has dropped the gloves on four other occasions in the NHL, with the most recent time coming during the 2022-23 season. That fight saw him square up against then-Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Justin Holl, who caught Kailer Yamamoto with his head down.

Nugent-Hopkins definitively won that fight.

In 2019-20, he had a fantastic tilt with then-Calgary Flames forward Sean Monahan while the Battle of Alberta was hot. Nugent-Hopkins was voted the winner of that one, as he was against Vinnie Hinostroza during the 2016-17 season. It also happened to be the lone time he’s fought a player on an American team.

His lone fight loss, according to Hockeyfights.com, is a tilt with Dan Hamhuis during his rookie season. While he was pretty clearly the loser of the fight, Nugent-Hopkins got some good shots in and held his own against a player a few weight classes heavier.

Nugent-Hopkins fights more than most 1st overall picks

As we know, fighting is less common over the years. Players drafted first overall commonly dropped the gloves 20 or more times in the 1970s and 1980s. By comparison, two players drafted first overall in the late 1990s, Joe Thornton and Vincent Lecavalier, threw down 29 and 32 times, respectively.

It’s quite uncommon to see first overall picks scrap nowadays.

Since the 2000 draft, only 16 players selected first overall have fought once. Only three players drafted first overall since 2007 have fought more than Nuge, and since Connor McDavid’s draft in 2015, there have only been six fights from players selected first overall in 2015 and beyond.

By no means is Nugent-Hopkins an “old-school player,” but his willingness to fight is rather uncommon among players selected so high in the draft.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @Ryley__Delaney.

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