RNH is much more than a mere third banana
Oilers centre becoming point-per-game player while also serving in defensive role
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is third banana on a team that late former head coach Pat Quinn once declared “sucked the hind banana.”
He’s the quiet, classy, former No. 1 overall draft pick who has the status of being “the other guy” behind the dynamic duo of superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Every once in a while he’ll skate into the spotlight as he did with his first-period hat trick Tuesday, the first of two hat tricks on the night for the Oilers, which has not happened in 34 years.
Nugent-Hopkins isn’t on the cover of hockey publications or on marquees, such as “Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the Edmonton Oilers.”
That’s McDavid. That’s Draisaitl.
When you look around Rogers Place, there are dozens of fans wearing No. 93 jerseys with “NUGENT-HOPKINS” name bars on the back — but not thousands like those wearing “McDAVID” and his No. 97 or the hundreds now wearing “DRAISAITL” and his No. 29.
Yet Nugent-Hopkins is not a former first-overall draft pick with an identity issue, ego problem or a bad case of envy. He isn’t wired like that.
“He’s an interesting guy,” said coach Ken Hitchcock. “He plays as what I call a ‘Two Plus.’
“If you are on the secondary part of both special teams, that’s a ‘Three.’ Nuge is in a situation where he’s on the first power play and either the first or second unit of the penalty kill. And we have no problem putting him against the top players. He’s able to play in every situation.
“The thing I like about him is that there’s zero maintenance. You don’t have to talk to him about playing the right way. You don’t have to talk to him about common sense stuff that happens on the ice.
Hitchcock said he believes Nugent-Hopkins, 25, despite being older than McDavid, 22, and Draisaitl, 23, is just coming into his own.
“I think, quite frankly, his point production is just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t think he’s reached his potential. I think there’s another gear he can go to and I think you’re just starting to see it,” said the NHL’s third winningest head coach of all-time.
“I think he’s getting closer and closer to being a point-per-game guy. I think he’s approaching that now and will continue to grow. I know he’s been here a long time because he started so young. But
I know he’s been here a long time because he started so young. But he’s a young player in the league right now, a really young player.
he’s a young player in the league right now, a really young player.”
Nugent-Hopkins will play his 534th NHL game Thursday against the Dallas Stars. He’s the longest serving member of the team, finishing up his seventh season with the club.
The hat trick Tuesday gave him 28 goals, which tops two previous campaigns of 24. While that gives him a serious shot at his first 30-goal season, it’s not as sexy as Draisaitl needing four goals for 50 or McDavid needing one to reach 40 and two to match the 41 he put up last year.
“It would be a nice milestone to hit. It looked a little out of reach before the hat trick,” he said, laughing.
“I feel like I can be a point per game (player) while also being responsible defensively. In the future, it’s something I’m going to keep striving for,” he said, pointing out he’s been around here long enough that it’s team success he strives and thirsts for the most.
McDavid has 112 points. With his hat trick and a four-point night in the same game, Draisaitl sits at 99, one short of his first 100-point year.
Nugent Hopkins is back at 64 points.
He said he’s cool with his lot in life.
“It’s fun to watch those two. They work so well together,” he said of having admiration, not envy.
He also is accepting of his role. “As the second centre, I not only have to do the job defensively, I have to do it offensively as well. It’s a good role for me to be in and I think as much as I enjoy playing wing with Connor and Leon, I’m just more comfortable, I think, at centre. I think I play the game better from the middle of the ice.”
It has to help not having an ego problem in his situation.
“I’ve always been a kind of an even-keel sort of guy. I take things as they come and I think I can always see things in perspective,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
He said McDavid and Draisaitl are an inspiration to him — as they should be for everybody else in the lineup.
“Those two guys are obviously high in skill and produce a lot of points. That makes you want to raise your own level and try to keep up and to keep pushing and pushing.”
It’s hard not to cheer for the guy.