Sunday night marked a special moment in Edmonton Oilers history as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins skated in the 1,000th game of his NHL career. They all wore the blue, orange and white, the first player to ever do so in the franchise. To cap off the milestone night, the beloved Oiler opened the scoring with a goal that fittingly stood as the game-winner in a dominant 5-0 shutout of the St. Louis Blues.
This performance has, of course, put a spotlight on Nugent-Hopkins’ tenure in Edmonton, and he recently admitted that there were times early in his career when he wasn’t sure he would stay with the organization much longer during the franchise’s dark years in the early 2010s.
On Wednesday, the man of the hour appeared on TSN’s OverDrive, where he reflected on those tough early seasons and how glad he is that he stuck around.
Nugent-Hopkins said:
“Yeah, definitely. When I got drafted here, I would talk to my agent and my family about that – that it was kind of the dream to first of all play my whole career in Edmonton, and the most important thing is obviously to win in Edmonton. And then you play your first five years, and you start seeing guys come in and out of the lineup and in and out of the team. You start to think, well, maybe that’s not a possibility. But I was fortunate enough to stay stuck. We went through some tougher years and Now we’re definitely on the other side. It’s a lot more fun being on this side than the first few years.”
The 32-year-old Nugent-Hopkins is having an excellent 2025-2026 season, with 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 42 games. He is in year five of the eight-year, $41 million extension he signed with the Oilers in 2021.
Riding with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has proven to be the right move
While there have been ups and downs along the way, both the Oilers and their fans have to be happy that Nugent-Hopkins has remained in Edmonton the entire time.
As much as this is the team of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins is its heart and soul – trusted in every situation: power play, penalty kill, five-on-five and critical late-game scenarios. His value extends far beyond the scoresheet, although he also continues to thrive by piling up the points.
The only thing left for Nugent-Hopkins to accomplish in Edmonton is capture that elusive Stanley Cup, and it certainly appears he and the Oilers are primed for another deep postseason run as they try to get over that final hump.
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