Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (born April 12, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Nuge" by Oilers fans, Nugent-Hopkins was selected first overall by the Oilers in the 2011 NHL entry draft.
Growing up in British Columbia, Nugent-Hopkins played minor hockey with the Burnaby Winter Club and Vancouver North West Giants before joining the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Over his two seasons in the WHL, Nugent-Hopkins received numerous accolades and honours including the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy, CHL Top Draft Prospect Award, and WHL East First All-Star Team selection. His efforts in the WHL began earning him attention from scouts; eventually, they unanimously projected him as the first overall pick in his draft class.
Nugent-Hopkins made his NHL debut at 18 in the 2011–12 season. He recorded 52 points in his rookie season to earn a nomination for the Calder Memorial Trophy and a place on the NHL All-Rookie Team. After six 50+ point seasons, he reached the 100-point plateau for the first time during the 2022–23 season. Nugent-Hopkins recorded a career-high 22 points in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs en route to the Oilers' first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2006. He played his 1,000th NHL game in January 2026, becoming the first player to play 1,000 games exclusively as a member of the Oilers.
Internationally, Nugent-Hopkins has represented Canada at both the junior and senior levels. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. While he made his senior team debut at the 2012 IIHF World Championship, Nugent-Hopkins continued to participate in junior tournaments until 2013. He represented Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and Team Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.
Early life Nugent-Hopkins was born on April 12, 1993, in Burnaby, British Columbia, to parents Roger Hopkins and Deb Nugent. He began skating at the age of two and trained alongside his older brother Adam. While he had numerous hockey idols growing up, he specifically admired Maurice Richard for his passion for hockey. Beyond hockey, Nugent-Hopkins was also involved in thoroughbred racing as his maternal grandfather raised and sold horses at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver.
Growing up, Nugent-Hopkins was a fan of the Vancouver Canucks.
Playing career
Amateur As a youth, Nugent-Hopkins played minor ice hockey for the Burnaby Winter Club (BWC) in the Pacific Coast Bantam Hockey League from 2006 to 2008. He originally intended to play with the North Shore Winter Club, but the distance and cost made it unfeasible. As such, he played one season with the Burnaby Minor team, and competed with them in the 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. By the time he reached the eighth grade, Nugent-Hopkins chose to enrol at the Burnaby North hockey academy to get more ice time.
In his first year with the BWC, Nugent-Hopkins recorded 43 goals and 43 assists for 86 points as he helped the BWC win the 2007 Western Canadian Bantam championships. In his second year with the BWC, Nugent-Hopkins was named the 2007–08 BC Hockey Minor Hockey Player of the Year in recognition of his sportsmanship, leadership and hockey skill. He had recorded 119 goals and 95 assists for 214 points and helped the BWC win a silver medal in the 2008 Western Canada Bantam championships. He was also named the tournament MVP after recording 10 goals and four assists in five games. The night before the 2008 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft, a member of the Red Deer Rebels called Nugent-Hopkins to ensure he was not planning on going the NCAA Division I route. After confirming he would commit to the WHL and not attend college, the Rebels drafted him first overall in the Bantam Draft.
After being drafted by the Rebels, Nugent-Hopkins played one year in the British Columbia Hockey Major Midget League with the Vancouver North West Giants during the 2008–09 season. As a 15-year-old, he led the league in scoring with 40 goals and 47 assists through 36 games en route to the 2009 BCMML championship. During the 2008 Mac's AAA midget hockey tournament, Nugent-Hopkins was named the Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the All-Star Team.
Junior During the Giants' 2008–09 season, Nugent-Hopkins joined the Rebels for five games as an affiliate player. He made his WHL debut on November 7, 2008, against the Seattle Thunderbirds and scored his first WHL goal on January 23, 2009, against the Calgary Hitmen. While he was only permitted to play in five games, Nugent-Hopkins scored two goals and four assists. Upon joining the Rebels full-time, Nugent-Hopkins enrolled at Hunting Hills High School and remained there for the rest of his time in the WHL.
Nugent-Hopkins began his rookie season with the Rebels during the 2009–10 season. Although he started the season with seven points over six games, the Rebels struggled to win games and held a 3–3–0 record. After recording his first WHL hat-trick on October 2, 2009, against the Brandon Wheat Kings, Nugent-Hopkins accumulated 10 points over six consecutive games. He finished the season with 24 goals and 41 assists through 67 games. Due to his play, Nugent-Hopkins was awarded the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL's Rookie of the Year. He was also a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year Award, but lost to Matt Puempel of the Peterborough Petes.
Leading up to the start of his draft-eligible season, Nugent-Hopkins worked with a personal trainer daily to build muscle and gain weight. Although he was ranked sixth overall in preseason he quickly climbed to second place by the International Scouting Service's (ISS) mid-November rankings. Nugent-Hopkins scored goals in three consecutive games to start the 2010–11 season and continued to collect points in the next eight. While he continued to collect assists, he struggled to score goals and went through an almost two-month goalless drought. Despite the lack of goals, Nugent-Hopkins ranked fourth in the league with 29 points by November 8. Alt URL He was also selected by a committee of WHL General Managers and Hockey Canada's head scout to play for Team WHL in the 2010 Subway Super Series. Following his second overall ranking, Nugent-Hopkins was invited to Hockey Canada's selection camp for the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships but was cut before the final roster was announced. As one of the top-ranked draft-eligible players, Nugent-Hopkins was named captain of Team Orr and competed at the 2011 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Between January 23 and February 12, 2011, he recorded seven goals and 20 assists over 10 games, including one six-point game. In recognition of his streak, Nugent-Hopkins was honoured as the CHL Player of Week for the week ending on February 6. Nugent-Hopkins continued to impress the league through the month of March as he recorded 11 goals and eight assists over eight games. During this streak, Nugent-Hopkins became the first Rebel since 2001 to score 100 points in a season. His efforts resulted in him being named the WHL Player of the Month of March.
Nugent-Hopkins finished the 2010–11 regular season leading the league with 75 assists and tied for third with 106 points. His new career-highs also helped the Rebels capture the WHL Central Division title and qualify for the 2011 WHL playoffs. He scored four points in game one of their first round series against the Edmonton Oil Kings and finished with nine points over four games. As the Rebels were eliminated the following round, he ended the playoffs with four goals and seven assist over nine games. His play throughout the regular season and playoffs resulted in him winning the CHL's Top Prospect of the Year award and a place on the WHL East First All-Star Team.
Leading up to the draft, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, ISS, TSN, and The Hockey News all ranked him as the number one draft-eligible skater. E. J. McGuire, the Director of the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, said of Nugent-Hopkins, "He's got great skill and a knack for offence," while Cam Moon, the Rebels' play-by-play announcer, called him the best player the team had ever seen.
Edmonton Oilers (2011–present) Early struggles and development (2011–2014) On June 24, 2011, Nugent-Hopkins was selected first overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft by the Edmonton Oilers. He became the first WHL player drafted first overall in the NHL draft since 1996. Shortly following the draft, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Oilers on July 2, 2011. Before and after the draft, numerous scouts and hockey pundits raised concerns about Nugent-Hopkin's weight and ability to compete at the NHL level. Nugent-Hopkins began the Oilers' training camp at 177 pounds, 12 pounds heavier than his draft weight. He participated in the Oiler training camp and preseason games before making his NHL debut on October 9, 2011, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. While skating alongside Taylor Hall and Ales Hemsky in his debut, Nugent-Hopkins scored his first NHL goal to lead the Oilers to an eventual 2–1 win. At the time, he was the third youngest Oilers player to score their first NHL goal at the age of 18 years and 180 days. On October 15, in his third NHL game, Nugent-Hopkins scored his first NHL hat-trick in a loss to the Vancouver Canucks. This set a new franchise record for the earliest career hat-trick in the fewest career games. Through his first 11 NHL games, Nugent-Hopkins led all rookies in scoring with five goals and six assists. As such, he was recognized by the NHL as the Rookie of the Month for October. By the end of October, Nugent-Hopkins was centring the Oilers Kid Line between fellow young forwards Hall and Jordan Eberle. The trio earned that nickname due to their ages all being under 22. On November 19, 2011, Nugent-Hopkins recorded five assists against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 9–2 win. He subsequently became the first 18-year-old to record a five-assist game in NHL history and the fourth to record a five-point game (both assists and goals). By the end of the month, Nugent-Hopkins had recorded six goals and 10 assists to tie the franchise record for most points in a month by a rookie. He was also honoured as the NHL's Rookie of the Month, becoming the first rookie since Evgeni Malkin to be named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for October and November.
While continuing to play alongside Hall and Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins quickly climbed the NHL ranks and placed amongst the top 20 goal-scorers in the league by the end of December. As his rookie season progressed, Nugent-Hopkins began earning more on-ice responsibility, including a permanent position as the Oilers' first-line centre and the powerplay unit. However, his points total began to decline in January after he injured his shoulder during a game against the Blackhawks and required three to four weeks to recover. Nugent-Hopkins missed 13 games to recover before returning on February 4 for the Oilers games against the Detroit Red Wings. His return lasted only two games as he quickly reinjured his shoulder following a hit by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mike Brown. Despite missing 20 games due to his shoulder injury, Nugent-Hopkins finished the regular season tied with Gabriel Landeskog in rookie scoring with 18 goals and 31 assists. On April 23, 2012, Nugent-Hopkins was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year along with Landeskog and Adam Henrique. Although he lost the Calder Trophy to Landeskog, Nugent-Hopkins was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.