Core Oilers Player Showing Major Signs of Regression with Terrible Start to the Season
Oilersnation Everyday's host Tyler Yaremchuk along with the rest of his team have expressed extreme concern over the recent play of Oilers forward Ryan Nugent Hopkins.
This discussion centred around which Oilers forwards were the most concerning as the team reached the 20-game mark in their season.
This milestone is a good measuring stick for any NHL team to see what trajectory they could be heading the team heads towards Christmas.
Both hosts feel that several Oilers forwards are in trouble including Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner who were both picked up on as free agents during last summers free agency frenzy. But the biggest concern by a mile is Nugent Hopkins as he is playing alongside McDavid and has yet to produce a consistent flow of offense.
Nuge is one of the longest standing Oilers left from the Taylor Hall - Jordan Eberle era. He began playing for the Oilers in 2011 it has been with the organization the entire time. Having been selected first round first overall in his draft year, many had high expectations to be a strong offensive threat.
Throughout his career he has been a inconsistent point getter as his points had ranged from 24 points all the way up to 104 points in 2022-23. He has played 22 games this season, scoring two goals with 7 assists for 9 points and is a - 1 with six penalty minutes.
Oilers Head coach Kris Knoblauch is doing all he can with his lines to try to coax some offence out of Nugent Hopkins including putting the best players on the planet beside him. It seems no matter what they do, he continues to struggle to score which could signal the team to consider moving off from his services.
At $5.125 million per season and having three more seasons left on his deal after this year's over, there could be several teams lining up who are looking for a center that would give second line production on another organization.
In the meantime, the coaching staff will continue to work with Nugent Hopkins and tried to coax more offence out of the 31-year-old.
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