I don't know why so many people love Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, he has been part of the problem over the years, not the solution. Quite frankly I find him to be a slow skater for a smaller player and I don't see him creating that much offensively and he has shown playing with McDavid that maybe he should be a winger because he needs someone to create something for him. He's a career -43 and he's suppose to be a good two way forward? His career corsi and fenwick are below 50% which means he's hurting the team more than helping. He's having a career year and yet he's only got 58 points, for a #1 overall pick in his 8TH SEASON!!!. He hasn't reached 60 points and he's almost played 10 years in the league and is having a career year when he's played a lot on McDavid's wing and on the PP.
All I see is way too many giveaways from him and players not picked up by him in the defensive zone that lead to goals. The power play numbers are pretty good this year because we have McDavid and Leon, but every time Nugent-Hopkins touches the puck he looks very unsure of himself and his place at the left wing side is frustrating to watch because he can't take a one-timer there and needs to be replaced with a right handed shot. One of the most important things I see in his game, or lack thereof, is passion and emotion. How many times do you see him display emotion on the ice, he looks like he doesn't care what happens out there.
He is the perfect candidate for trade bait for a team that needs a center and we can get a much better winger for the top 6 than anything we have now and Leon can move to the 2nd line center position which the team plays much better as when he and McDavid are split up.