Player Discussion Ryan Nugent-Hopkins '17-18 Season

[nabob]

Nuge is third on the team for points per game, first on the team for +/- and Nuge is the problem? If his defence is below average, I hate to see what people value the rest of the players at. Currently Nuge is not even close to the problem right now, a huge focus should be on goaltending right now, they have been terrible.

I know its cool for some to rag on the players that were here before and losing, but the Oilers were nowhere close to having a "team"in all those aweful years. They have tried to change Nuge's play and identity many times with all the coaches and changes in players etc. I think Chia thought Strome could possibly replace Nuge if we had to rid his contract....good luck with that. We are still in bad need of scoring RW.

It doesn't matter for some what Nuge has done this season. They're basing their dislike for the player off of previous seasons and that he replaced their favorite former player on the club.

 

[Canovin]

If RNH was paid 4M avv to put up on average 45 points and being average defensively, you won't see many people complaining about him.

 

[Mr Positive]

If RNH was paid 4M avv to put up on average 45 points and being average defensively, you won't see many people complaining about him.

which is why if Chia really wants to impress everyone, he'd find a way to keep RNH even though the cap is an issue. Bottom line is that it's nice to have the best players on the team to win hockey games. It's nice to have a buffer of a few million but if you are bleeding talent to get there it's a lost cause

 

[MessierII]

If RNH was paid 4M avv to put up on average 45 points and being average defensively, you won't see many people complaining about him.

Pretty much. He needs to be above average at something to justify to justify what we pay him.

 

[Spawn]

Same old Nuge is back. 1 secondary assist in his last 4 games. Throwing muffins from the blue line like it's going out of style. He and Strome really killed it on that hard back check for the GWG.

M.I.A.

But hey, at least he was the 4th most important player on a 4 on 3 OT goal the other day. That will earn him enough good will from his fans for the next month or so.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Really poor effort by Nuge in this one. Soon as he got nailed on that hit, or even before that he seemed more interested in getting rid of the puck at the first opportunity than trying to create. This was another uninolved game by Nuge in a game where the big boys came out. In that it seems pretty weird for Lucic, who was game for action today, to have Nuge as his center. Kind of a huge disconnect there in styles.

It seems to me that Lucic would be more effective on a bruiser type line that could physically lean on opponents and wear them down. Lucic played well, but only so much he can do himself.

 

[nabob]

Same old Nuge is back. 1 secondary assist in his last 4 games. Throwing muffins from the blue line like it's going out of style. He and Strome really killed it on that hard back check for the GWG.

M.I.A.

But hey, at least he was the 4th most important player on a 4 on 3 OT goal the other day. That will earn him enough good will from his fans for the next month or so.

You trying to blame Nuge for the GWG today just shows what a joke of a hate on you have for the player.
Never miss an excuse to make something up to hate on him do you. Pathetic.

 

[Spawn]

Really poor effort by Nuge in this one. Soon as he got nailed on that hit, or even before that he seemed more interested in getting rid of the puck at the first opportunity than trying to create. This was another uninolved game by Nuge in a game where the big boys came out. In that it seems pretty weird for Lucic, who was game for action today, to have Nuge as his center. Kind of a huge disconnect there in styles.

It seems to me that Lucic would be more effective on a bruiser type line that could physically lean on opponents and wear them down. Lucic played well, but only so much he can do himself.

Nuge hasn't tried to create with any consistency since his rookie year. This isn't new for RNH. This is his MO.

 

[Soundwave]

Nuge hasn't tried to create with any consistency since his rookie year. This isn't new for RNH. This is his MO.

Sad but true. Dude should only get paid every third game because that's about as often as he makes a difference in a game.

 

[McOilers97]

Defending RNH’s play by saying “he’s 3rd on the team in scoring” is brutal. He’s one of the team’s most important players, and should be held to a higher standard than the Letestu/Kassian/Strome etc type players. The argument that “he’s 3rd in team scoring” in this case is like trying to say that getting 50% on your exam is ok “because all my friends got 40%”.

 

[nabob]

Defending RNH’s play by saying “he’s 3rd on the team in scoring” is brutal. He’s one of the team’s most important players, and should be held to a higher standard than the Letestu/Kassian/Strome etc type players. The argument that “he’s 3rd in team scoring” in this case is like trying to say that getting 50% on your exam is ok “because all my friends got 40%”.

Well coach did say he that as the teams. Eat player through 4 games. Then he was good against Carolina. And magically all it took was for him to have an average game against the Hawks, a game they won, and then another average game against the Flyers for the hate train to fire up.

Team loses game and fans look to blame their favorite scapegoats. Not surprising that the fans that hate him even tried to blame him for the GWG against yesterday when he was probably the least at fault of all the players on the ice because McDavid pulled a Yakupov line change. It was evident during the offseason that some fans wouldn't consider not making him the new scapegoat. Now that the team isn't playing well, he is their scapegoat even though he's been one of the best players on the team. Heaven forbid he has a poor game in the faceoff circle soon. Then the pitchforks will really come out.

 

[Staghorn]

He's always going to face the heat given his paycheque and impact on the cap. Huge cap impact, low on ice impact does not make one popular. His game against Chicago was good, otherwise a whole lotta meh... But really the whole team is meh, so what do you do.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Defending RNH’s play by saying “he’s 3rd on the team in scoring” is brutal. He’s one of the team’s most important players, and should be held to a higher standard than the Letestu/Kassian/Strome etc type players. The argument that “he’s 3rd in team scoring” in this case is like trying to say that getting 50% on your exam is ok “because all my friends got 40%”.

The whole team is below expectations right now with the exception of Nurse IMO. I still see an improved player from last season but we need more from him as well as just about every player on our team.

 

[Soundwave]

"Need To See More From RNH" ... Nuge should just get that tattooed on his arm, it's basically become the motto for this player.

 

[oobga]

Still don't get why McLellan refuses to ever try Nuge on the wing. Judging by his interviews and comments on Nuge, he actually seems to 100% approve of what Nuge does out on the ice defensively, and that seems to be good enough for him. Same kind of thinking with Russell. He absolutely loves everything about Russell, and it doesn't seem to matter at all to McLellan how poor Russell is at getting the puck moving with possessing into the other end of the ice.

 

[Spawn]

The whole team is below expectations right now with the exception of Nurse IMO. I still see an improved player from last season but we need more from him as well as just about every player on our team.

He's improved on faceoffs. I'll give him credit for that. It's nice to finally see. But where else has he improved? He scored a nice goal in game 3 of the season and has essentially done nothing threatening since. All the talk about McLellan asking him to provide more offense, or confidence being important... and I see the exact same player who plays almost exclusively on the perimeter and would rather take a non threatening shot from 40 feet out than attack the defense or make a high skill play.

And he's still just as ineffective as always on the defensive side of things.

 

[belair]

Really poor effort by Nuge in this one. Soon as he got nailed on that hit, or even before that he seemed more interested in getting rid of the puck at the first opportunity than trying to create. This was another uninolved game by Nuge in a game where the big boys came out. In that it seems pretty weird for Lucic, who was game for action today, to have Nuge as his center. Kind of a huge disconnect there in styles.

It seems to me that Lucic would be more effective on a bruiser type line that could physically lean on opponents and wear them down. Lucic played well, but only so much he can do himself.

I don't really disagree with you here. Running...

Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Jokinen - RNH - XXXX
Lucic - Strome - Kassian

As our top nine when Draisaitl returns is an interesting option. I'm not sure where the Oilers stand on the Yamamoto front, but the RW slot could be filled via trade, if necessary. That line would likely benefit from a shoot-first mentality winger.

I think there is hope for the Lucic-RNH-Strome line in the future as they have had some successes, but when all three of them are snakebitten maybe it's an opportunity to mix it up to get any or all of them going.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I don't really disagree with you here. Running...

Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Jokinen - RNH - XXXX
Lucic - Strome - Kassian

As our top nine when Draisaitl returns is an interesting option. I'm not sure where the Oilers stand on the Yamamoto front, but the RW slot could be filled via trade, if necessary. That line would likely benefit from a shoot-first mentality winger.

I think there is hope for the Lucic-RNH-Strome line in the future as they have had some successes, but when all three of them are snakebitten maybe it's an opportunity to mix it up to get any or all of them going.

Those middle two lines will score nothing.

 

[belair]

Those middle two lines will score nothing.

These two middle lines are scoring nothing. Are you content with them standing pat?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

These two middle lines are scoring nothing. Are you content with them standing pat?

No, you already know my stance on this. Should've upgraded during the summer. Put RNH/Drai/McDavid on their own lines and find some f***ing wingers who can score.

 

[Asiaoil]

Every game I see RNH taking useless easy shots from places that will never produce goals instead of being creative or attacking the net. It's so common that we should create a new stat for these useless shots that do nothing but create in a change in possession. Call it the "RNH".

 

[belair]

No, you already know my stance on this. Should've upgraded during the summer. Put RNH/Drai/McDavid on their own lines and find some ****ing wingers who can score.

All summer I was pushing that rhetoric. First Williams, then Gionta, now Leivo...We were missing a top six RW when JP flopped in camp. And no one should've expected him to be ready. But I have no interest in a shoulda, woulda, coulda discussion because they never go anywhere.

The Oilers swapped out Eberle for Strome, who has shown he's a capable scoring forward. As is Milan Lucic. As is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Other than that one move, this is the same team that put up 103 points last season. There's no reason why all of these guys are snakebitten--even McDavid. These guys are capable of scoring on their own. They just need to find a way to get themselves out of this funk. I'm not convinced that these guys just aren't going to score all season.

 

[CycloneSweep]

All summer I was pushing that rhetoric. First Williams, then Gionta, now Leivo...We were missing a top six RW when JP flopped in camp. And no one should've expected him to be ready. But I have no interest in a shoulda, woulda, coulda discussion because they never go anywhere.

The Oilers swapped out Eberle for Strome, who has shown he's a capable scoring forward. As is Milan Lucic. As is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Other than that one move, this is the same team that put up 103 points last season. There's no reason why all of these guys are snakebitten--even McDavid. These guys are capable of scoring on their own. They just need to find a way to get themselves out of this funk. I'm not convinced that these guys just aren't going to score all season.

None of these guys can drive a line. RNH doesn't drive offense. Lucic supports offense. Strome exists. The rest of our lineup outside of McDavid and Draisaitl don't produce or drive the play. They are all support players. We put our 2 play making line drivers together and hope the rest of the lineup can just not die.

Our team makeup is wrong. Too much supporting players not enough playmakers or scorers. I mean look at our make up.

Line drivers: McDavid, Draisaitl
Big bodied grinders: Maroon, Lucic, Kassian, Slepyshev, Khaira, Malone
Support Players : RNH, Letestu, Jokinen, Yamamoto, Cagguila, Pakarainen
Scorers: none

Lots of middle guys, no scorers and lack of drivers. We over corrected. We used to be full of soft push over. Now we aren't but all the skill is gone.

Last year the team was 100% supported by McDavid's offense and career years from a few guys and a goalie who played most of the season and overachieved a bit. That's fine it happens.

So what happens is you improve our roster, you make it better to push you over the top. Fill the holes or attempt. What did we do? Stand pat and make a small downgrade.

The team is moving skilled and we just bought in to size.

 

[Soundwave]

None of these guys can drive a line. RNH doesn't drive offense. Lucic supports offense. Strome exists. The rest of our lineup outside of McDavid and Draisaitl don't produce or drive the play. They are all support players. We put our 2 play making line drivers together and hope the rest of the lineup can just not die.

Our team makeup is wrong. Too much supporting players not enough playmakers or scorers. I mean look at our make up.

Line drivers: McDavid, Draisaitl
Big bodied grinders: Maroon, Lucic, Kassian, Slepyshev, Khaira, Malone
Support Players : RNH, Letestu, Jokinen, Yamamoto, Cagguila, Pakarainen
Scorers: none

Lots of middle guys, no scorers and lack of drivers. We over corrected. We used to be full of soft push over. Now we aren't but all the skill is gone.

Last year the team was 100% supported by McDavid's offense and career years from a few guys and a goalie who played most of the season and overachieved a bit. That's fine it happens.

So what happens is you improve our roster, you make it better to push you over the top. Fill the holes or attempt. What did we do? Stand pat and make a small downgrade.

The team is moving skilled and we just bought in to size.

You can change the core. There is no "adding to the group", we don't have the long term cap room to do so.

You admit it's flawed. The reality is if that's the case, the core needs to be changed.

 

[Fourier]

Every game I see RNH taking useless easy shots from places that will never produce goals instead of being creative or attacking the net. It's so common that we should create a new stat for these useless shots that do nothing but create in a change in possession. Call it the "RNH".

And yet 3/4 of his shots this year have been from the faceoff dot or closer with 7 of 12 being in or very close to the high danger zone.

https://icydata.hockey/vizzes/shots/9

1/12 shots from outside the circle all year. It is possible that we see what we want to see.