Player Discussion Ryan Nugent-Hopkins '17-18 Season

[MoneyGuy]

Nuge is a good player and maybe worth his contract. He's finally decided to prove it and is now the player we knew he could be.

 

[McFlash97]

Nuge looks fast, agile, quick, like a 1st overall pick these past few games...... if he ever gets his mojo back permanently look out !

 

[dem]

I don't know where this Nuge was hiding the last few year..

The last little stretch he looks pretty dang good. Hope he keeps it up..

 

[AM]

Mistakes a player makes are based on the quality of the competition. Nuge is doing fine this year in his own end. In my estimation he has gotten better every year in his over all game.

Overall team wise, however, they havent been all that good. The defense needs to shoulder some of this responsibility. If you spend enough time in your own end , the center is going to be the goat in the end.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

I been saying it for a while, kids a stud, like a feral pine marten. He's a keeper Chia, don't trade him for a bag of pucks like you did with Hallsy and Ebs.

 

[Wewillrise]

The way he's playing is transferable to the playoffs aswell. Very optimistic about his game going forward.

 

[LTIR]

Might be a sell high situation here. If he can fetch us Faulk \ Seth Jones\ Barrie type player then Chia should be all for it.

 

[Mr Positive]

Might be a sell high situation here. If he can fetch us Faulk \ Seth Jones\ Barrie type player then Chia should be all for it.

I definitely agree, but it's a bit strange now. With Nurse going up a gear, all of a sudden it seems like the blueline is crowded and forward core is thin

But since getting McDavid, I've wanted a true top 4 OFD for this team. It gave me more patience for Schultz than I really should have had. But Barrie/Faulk would be a dream. Jones is just untouchable though imo

 

[Tyrolean]

Hope he continues to play like this the rest of hos useful career. He hasn't been consistent thus far.

 

[AM]

Might be a sell high situation here. If he can fetch us Faulk \ Seth Jones\ Barrie type player then Chia should be all for it.

We wont know what we have in our defense until Sekera gets back.

 

[Chet Manley]

As an RNH fan, I'd totally understand if he was traded as part of a deal for a true top pairing defenceman. Anything else would make me a sad panda as a fanboy.

The one thing that is surprising are people that see having three top6 centres as a waste of cap space. Three seems perfect as it covers injuries, slumps, and versatility for switching up lines against various types of opponents.

 

[Throttlehead]

I definitely agree, but it's a bit strange now. With Nurse going up a gear, all of a sudden it seems like the blueline is crowded and forward core is thin

But since getting McDavid, I've wanted a true top 4 OFD for this team. It gave me more patience for Schultz than I really should have had. But Barrie/Faulk would be a dream. Jones is just untouchable though imo

We are so thin on the wings it makes no sense to get rid of Nuge if cap permits us to keep him, also very thin at centre if McDavid or Draisaitl get hurt. I dont believe there is any need to panic and make that move, lets at least wait for Puljujarvi and Yamamoto to look like they can play. We are in need of forwards much more than D at this point. We didn't have enough patience with Schultz, the Oilers played him above where he should have been, he looks excellent for the Pens, we blew that one. We love to run players out of town when the franchise failed them.

The same run out of town thing was happening with Nuge. Everyone was saying eh has never looked like his fist year, yes but Horcoff was taking the heavy load in Nuge's start, and secondly I dont think he knew how he should play after all the coaching changes, he is just coming into his own and will get better. He knows how to play hockey, just needs to build up the confidence. To me the second string PP always looks dangerous, our first string is very predictable.

 

[Joey Moss]

As an RNH fan, I'd totally understand if he was traded as part of a deal for a true top pairing defenceman. Anything else would make me a sad panda as a fanboy.

The one thing that is surprising are people that see having three top6 centres as a waste of cap space. Three seems perfect as it covers injuries, slumps, and versatility for switching up lines against various types of opponents.

Exactly.. there are numerous teams who would love another top 6 center. If you're rich in that area, you have a huge advantage. What we need to do is start finding some cheap wingers that can produce and plug them around McDavid, Draisaitl, and RNH. I don't see any reason we should be trading him unless its for a solid defenseman as you said.

Let Maroon walk, unload Russell however you can.. do whatever to keep RNH.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I don't know where this Nuge was hiding the last few year..

The last little stretch he looks pretty dang good. Hope he keeps it up..

Seems like a pretty normal progression for this player type, physically unimposing (borderline weak), generally well-rounded, high IQ players without near elite skating or eye-popping offensive talent, and who put a strong emphasis on being two-way players early on don't tend to break out till their mid-20's e.g. Backlund, RNH, Plekanec, Namestnikov.

Next candidate for this that I can think of will probably be Sam Reinhart, but he's about 2 or possibly 3 years off from breaking through to that next level, there's probably another one, but I haven't been monitoring prospects as closely as I once did.

 

[Panda Bear]

...except RNH does have eye-popping talent (those hands, those saucers, that deceptive shot) and near elite skating.

The problem over the past few years was that he was playing so safe and defensive (you know, "two way") that he began to struggle with and lack confidence in his best attributes.

 

[Aerchon]

Rnh this year at this point in time is clearly worth 6 mill plus in the current environment. If he continues to play this well or better for the full year and hypothetically was in a UFA contract year signing long term I would bet his average salary would exceed 7 mill per rather easily.

You never trade center for winger. Or keep a winger over a center. If Chiarelli moves Nuge out while he is playing this good its almost impossible to imagine us getting a better team from the return. Both Mclellan and Chiarelli know this, have emphasized this on previous teams, and hopefully will continue to do so.

As tempting as it would be to move RNH for good value and reduce his cap hit I believe it would significantly hurt the team.

Even as good as Nuge is playing I still think he is just going to get better and better. His skill sets/physical attributes have always made me think he would be a late bloomer and the kind of player that gets significantly better with age. At age 28 is when I think we finally start to see what peak Nuge can do.

I hope he stays, keeps getting better, signs for a true hometown discount because honestly he owes the organization a discount based on his overall play to date, and we have the best center depth in the nhl for the next decade plus.

 

[sepHF]

I don't know where this Nuge was hiding the last few year..

The last little stretch he looks pretty dang good. Hope he keeps it up..

He was strapped to Eberle, they have never really worked together except a very brief time with Pouliot

 

[Asiaoil]

A shout out to Brynabyoil as his guy RNH is playing really well. Waaaay more aggressive and he's even hitting and finally playing with a bit of swagger. These guys do read the papers and hear about what the blogs are saying (like Looch saying he heard about a piece by Spector last year that pointed out that he hadn't taken a penelty in weeks and got into a fight next game). Sometimes guys need a fire lit under their rear to play the right way. RNH has always been treated too gently by the fans and press until this season, and IMHO, it really made him soft and passive. Good to see him rise to the challenge and start to play up to his potential. Hope he keeps it up as he's playing like he wants to stay on this team.

 

[nabob]

A shout out to Brynabyoil as his guy RNH is playing really well. Waaaay more aggressive and he's even hitting and finally playing with a bit of swagger. These guys do read the papers and hear about what the blogs are saying (like Looch saying he heard about a piece by Spector last year that pointed out that he hadn't taken a penelty in weeks and got into a fight next game). Sometimes guys need a fire lit under their rear to play the right way. RNH has always been treated too gently by the fans and press until this season, and IMHO, it really made him soft and passive. Good to see him rise to the challenge and start to play up to his potential. Hope he keeps it up as he's playing like he wants to stay on this team.

I think this is a giant load. It's been stated multiple times that RNH had been reeled in by the coaches and all offensive creativity had been not allowed basically. The media and fans have been taking him over the coals the last two years for his lack of production, which is the reason for TMac public ally stating that he was going to remove the reigns and allow RNH to play a more aggressive and offensive game. Can't believe so many posters here wanted to get rid of him the last three years. Glad he's proving them all wrong.

 

[MoneyGuy]

I think Nuge felt that this team is building toward something good and he want to be part of it, unlike Hall and Eberle. That and he didn't want to have to contend with McDavid.

 

[Cloned]

I'm looking forward to the day I can post Ryan Natural Hattrick.

 

[Aceboogie]

This RNH was present last year as well. Just hidden by extremely low shooting % so fans couldnt see past that. Loved Nuge last year and love him equally this year. Incredible talent and in argument for 2nd best player on this team

Let the kid grow and develop even more and could be a dominant 2nd line center

 

[McFlyingV]

This RNH was present last year as well. Just hidden by extremely low shooting % so fans couldnt see past that. Loved Nuge last year and love him equally this year. Incredible talent and in argument for 2nd best player on this team

Let the kid grow and develop even more and could be a dominant 2nd line center

Love Nuge, but Draisaitl's still the 2nd best player on this team. You're in a pretty good spot with those two and Connor McDavid down the middle though!

 

[MessierII]

This RNH was present last year as well. Just hidden by extremely low shooting % so fans couldnt see past that. Loved Nuge last year and love him equally this year. Incredible talent and in argument for 2nd best player on this team

Let the kid grow and develop even more and could be a dominant 2nd line center

It’s more than just his shooting % coming around. He’s above 50% on draws for the first time. He’s playing more aggressive on both sides of the puck and it’s paying dividends.

 

[Aceboogie]

It’s more than just his shooting % coming around. He’s above 50% on draws for the first time. He’s playing more aggressive on both sides of the puck and it’s paying dividends.

Just glad fans are seeing the Nuge for what he is. Hopefully Chiarelli sees this too. Long term Nuge is going to be a very imporant player