How Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been Oilers’ Swiss Army knife

EDMONTON, Alberta — If the Edmonton Oilers were handing out superlatives, then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be their (not-so) secret weapon.

Don’t take just anyone’s word for it, though. It’s the sort of distinction only a team’s captain — and arguably the NHL’s best player — can hand out in a statement that seemed to reverberate among those following the Oilers’ playoff run.

“He’s our Swiss Army knife,” Connor McDavid said of Nugent-Hopkins after the Oilers’ 6-1 drubbing of the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Sunday. “And he’s playing really, really well. Just solid overall, making plays, doing his thing. He’s asked to do everything every single night. He’s playing great.”

Evander Kane — a frequent linemate of Nugent-Hopkins’ — can’t hide a wry smile when asked about his teammate’s play. He caught McDavid’s declaration, and doubled down on how it applies to Nugent-Hopkins’ dominance in the postseason so far.

“I’ve heard it [everywhere] probably the last 24 hours, the term ‘Swiss Army knife,'” Kane said Monday. “So I’ll just repeat it. [Nugent-Hopkins] is a player that is very versatile. He sees the ice well, has good poise out there to make plays. He’s had a really, really good playoffs. He’s had an even better [Western Conference finals] series. So if we can continue to get that type of game from him, obviously, that helps our team greatly.”

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Nugent-Hopkins’ latest performance was so strong that it shoved him further into the spotlight on a star-studded Oilers team. Edmonton’s longest-tenured skater was at his best in Sunday’s Game 3, collecting three assists on highlight reel-worthy playmaking that included an eye-popping give-and-go sequence with McDavid in the first period.

The veteran has two goals and seven points in the conference finals, and five goals and 16 points in 14 playoff games to date, fourth most on the team. Nugent-Hopkins’ formidable series has put him in excellent company, where he has joined Wayne Gretzky as only the second player in franchise history to register multiple points in the first three games of an NHL conference final or semifinal.

Not bad for a guy who’d have every right to be exhausted. Nugent-Hopkins is your classic overachiever, willing and usually able to do just about anything but put on goalie pads and play in net.

He has been a top-line winger alongside McDavid. A second-line shutdown center with Kane. A fixture on the Oilers’ top power-play unit. An invaluable penalty killer.

Nugent-Hopkins is, in short, every coach’s dream skater — something coach Kris Knobloch hasn’t exactly kept hidden.

“Leon [Draisaitl] joked last year he’s my favorite player,” Knobloch said of Nugent-Hopkins. “But any time you have a player that can do so much, as a coach you’re very thankful for it. You want players with flexibility. You can use them in all different situations.

“He’ll do a great job. You see it in the third period [of Game 3], he was playing with Kane and [Zach] Hyman. They were a good line and it starts with the centerman.”

IT’S FORTUNATE THAT THOSE around Nugent-Hopkins are willing to prop him up because he’s not taking any credit for the profound effect he has had on the Oilers’ postseason. And any praise won’t go to his head.

“I think we’re all just doing our thing and trying to chip in where we can,” Nugent-Hopkins said when asked about his impact. “Our line got a couple [on Sunday] and it’s nice to capitalize on your chances and see it go in.”

The success Nugent-Hopkins and the Oilers are enjoying has been a long time coming, and took the veteran wading through infamously trying times to finally hit. Drafted No. 1 by Edmonton in 2011, Nugent-Hopkins endured lean seasons with the Oilers that included only one playoff berth in the first eight years of his career. From there, Edmonton bowed out in the opening round of the postseason in 2020 and 2021.

But the Oilers’ stock soon rose, and Edmonton battled its way to the Stanley Cup Final last season, falling just short in a Game 7 loss to Florida. Nugent-Hopkins had seven goals and 22 points in that postseason, a run the club is trying to replicate as it holds a 2-1 series lead over Dallas heading into Tuesday’s Game 4.

Though Nugent-Hopkins has stayed steady through the Oilers’ ups and downs, the fact that he’s better than ever at 32 is no surprise to those who have watched him mature over the years.

“I’ve always been a huge fan,” said Stuart Skinner, who made his debut with the Oilers in the 2020-21 season. “He’s been able to be a two-way player [in all three phases] of the ice. He’s just that type of guy. That’s why he’s such a huge part of our team, huge part of the organization.”

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Consider how Nugent-Hopkins helped turn the Oilers’ recent Achilles’ heel into a positive. Edmonton had Game 1 against Dallas in hand until a disastrous third period in which the Stars scored three power-play goals in less than six minutes on their way to a come-from-behind victory. Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice for only one of those goals against, but since then he has helped stabilize the Oilers’ penalty kill, which has gone 4-for-4 in killing off Dallas power plays.

“It’s a lot of the same things,” Nugent-Hopkins said of getting the penalty kill on track. “Staying with it, staying confident. Obviously they stung us there, cost us in the first game; we wanted to respond, and I think we’ve done a good job since.”

Only Nugent-Hopkins knows for sure how he can balance all the roles and responsibilities he receives without sacrificing quality in any of them. That’s the magic of a Swiss Army knife after all — its outward appearance disguises the many uses contained within. And in Nugent-Hopkins’ case, those capabilities range from dazzling displays on the ice to what happens behind closed doors.

That’s where the real magic happens.

“He’s a leader in here,” Skinner said. “The work ethic he shows every day, what he says in the room and [how] he does it with a lot of composure too. It’s very impressive.”