Tonight, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will become the first Edmonton Oiler to play his first 1000 NHL games with the Oilers. Next season, he will pass Kevin Lowe for the most games played in Oilers history.

Lowe played 966 games with the Oilers before joining the New York Rangers in 1992/1993. He won his 6th Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994 and then returned to Edmonton and played 64 games in 1997 and seven in 1998 before retiring. RNH has already surpassed Lowe’s record of 966 consecutive games as an Oiler, and tonight he will join Lowe as the only two players to play 1000 games. RNH will pass Lowe’s franchise mark of 1037 games early next season, but tonight he will be honoured with the Silver Stick, among other gifts, for playing his 1000th NHL game.

I sense this is a big deal for Oilers fans, young and old. Nugent-Hopkins is one of the most beloved Oilers of all time. He was never the best player on the team, but he’s been incredibly consistent and his offensive skills are likely a bit underrated because he plays with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Those who are superstars, and while RNH isn’t a superstar he’s a really good player.

He is the 417th player in NHL history to play 1000 games. He’s currently 208th all-time in scoring with 782 games and seems destined to reach 1000 career points. Leon Draisaitl was the 103rd player to do it early this season, and RNH will likely he the 112th-115th depending on how productive he and some other active players are over the coming seasons. RNH has had an amazing career, and he’s only 32 and likely has at least six more seasons to play.

Tonight’s game will be a celebration of his accomplishments with the Oilers, but it also represents something bigger. Loyalty, resiliency and perseverance. The Oilers and RNH have been equally loyal to one another. RNH was handed a $6m contract for seven seasons after only two years in the NHL and Nugent-Hopkins repaid them by signing his third contract at what has become a great value contract at $5.125m for eight years. He is a great example of why not taking a major payday can benefit the team and player. RNH has already made over $70m and has another three years remaining on his contract, but he has never been looked at negatively by fans because of his AAV. It isn’t always fair to judge a player solely on their salary, but many do, and RNH has masterfully made great money, while also remaining in the city he loves and adhering himself to the fans because his AAV isn’t out of whack. It is unfortunate that some fans only view a player through the lens of their salary, but it is something players should consider. I’d argue the pressure of living up to a large contract is more than living up to a being a high draft pick. There is an ugly side to how people view money and RNH has avoided that.

He’s also performed well. As outlined above, he’s on track to score 1000 points and could easily finish his career in the top 100 scorers of all-time. That illustrates how consistent he has been, without being flashy, and is a great reminder how being consistent and reliable is as important as being great. It is difficult to be great, but it is also challenging to be consistent for 15 years and RNH has done that.

I had a chance to speak with Nugent-Hopkins about his upcoming milestone and his time with the Oilers.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins:  Yeah, it definitely means a lot. I mean, I’ve been very fortunate, first of all, to be drafted here to this organization and to be able to have kind of stuck around through some tough times and to have the trust of the organization behind me. It is a huge honour for me. It’s been a privilege to play these years here in Edmonton and with such a great group and a great group of fans. So just very fortunate and obviously I’m not stopping now. I want to keep going and I want to keep playing a lot more in this building.

RNH: I definitely feel the support from the fans for sure. They’ve always been great to me. They supported me. Obviously, I came in as a first overall pick, so you have a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations. I feel like they kind of stuck with me through some tougher years. They’ve been great to myself and my family. I mean, they’re in general just a great fan base, but I’ve been very fortunate the way that they’ve treated me and I definitely don’t take it for granted.

RNH: Or course you want to have success as a hockey player. I feel like a lot of us growing up on your junior teams and your minor hockey team you have that success and you’re not used to losing a lot. But then in the NHL we faced some adversity. A lot of it. My first few years, obviously we were going through it a little bit, and you had to find a way to deal with that and focus on trying to improve the team any way you can. But at the same time, improve your own game individually. And it wasn’t always easy. To be honest it was really frustrating at times, but to be on the other side of it now is very rewarding. It almost made the hard times worth it. Almost (laughs).

Gregor: You mentioned those early years, and you came in as the number one pick overall. There was a lot of expectations, and you were mainly an offensive player prior to to the NHL, but early on you seemed to embrace the defensive responsibility and in a way sacrifice offense. Where’d that come from? And was that a tough decision looking back?

RNH:  Yeah, I think it was pretty quick for me to understand that it was something that I needed to work on and an area of my game where I maybe needed a little more focus than other parts of my game. If I wanted to be able to help the team in that sense, I didn’t want to just be that running around player and just be a pure offensive guy.

And I had to change some things, and I definitely focused on it for a few years. And whether or not it hurt me offensively a little bit, that’s kind of the growing pains you go through as a young player in this league. I’m happy that I took that time to kind of grow my game. And I’m still trying to. Everybody’s always trying to find the right mix of offense and defense.

I’m happy that I took that time and in that stage of my career to focus on the defensive side of things.

RNH: To a certain extent, I don’t know about the number itself, but I mean, when I first got here it definitely it was a goal of mine to play my whole career here. I want to win here and be on a successful team here. The 1000 game mark, obviously it’s a milestone, but it’s more so I think in my mind was I want to have my career in Edmonton.

I know it doesn’t happen a whole lot in this league. And I think as a young kid, you think it happens more than it actually does. And as I’ve kind of grown up in this league, you start to realize that it’s not that often it happens. So, I take a lot of pride in that and I’m very lucky to have been able to do it so far to this point.

RNH: It’s been a lot of fun for me. Especially Connor, he came in with these crazy expectations. I mean, we talked about my own expectations, but they’re a lot different than what Connor came in with and to see him embrace that and turn into the player he is, and probably exceeding expectations. It is impressive and it has been a lot of fun to be a part of and a lot of fun to watch.

And same thing with Leon. I mean, the way that he took some steps early in his career to just excel himself to become one of the best players in the world. It is really impressive. And Darnell has rounded his game out as one of the best defensive defensemen, with some good offensive ability. He is one of the harder guys to play against in the league.

In that group, they’re mature, they are not kids anymore, but they came in and they came in together too, which I think helped them a decent amount. They were tight right from the get-go and they kind of fed off each other and learned from each other a little bit. But to see the evolution for those three has been pretty special for me.

RNH: The funniest ever. That’s so tough. Actually, I lived with that Mark Arcabello. He was a character. He always had us laughing.  He was always yapping and had some great jokes. But Kass (Zach Kassian) was another guy who you just sit there and kind of listen to all day. He had a lot of funny moments. There’s so many guys who have come through here. And a lot of guys, I feel like that’s kind of part of their identity is keeping things light in the room, but those two would stand out.

RNH: Probably Hymes (Zach Hyman).

RNH: (laughs). Yes, and I think that’s what helps him. He’s kind of got that mind for it. He’s good with it and it’s not just fantasy sports, but any of the pools and stuff that we do, especially football, he’s pretty dialed into.

RNH: I think the guy who I surprised the most with fighting in general was Ekky (Mattias Ekholm). I think it was his first game as an Oiler, and I think that was when I fought Holl from Toronto. He was taken back a little bit. He didn’t expect that for sure. Obviously, I’m not out there running guys and trying to pick fights and stuff, so new guys to the team or younger guys don’t expect it. I think Ekky’s reaction was probably the funniest.

RNH: I don’t know. I’ve been wondering that, actually. I’m sure there’s some stupid ones out there. They always try to go with something not flattering, so I’m sure they’ll find one. I’m actually excited about it.

RNH: Thanks, Jason. I appreciate that.

Nugent-Hopkins will receive a massive ovation tonight. He’s earned it.