Oilers May Be Forced to React to Nugent-Hopkins Troubling Trend

Paul Pidutti of Daily Faceoff has listed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a grim list of players who are seeing a stark decline in their production because of something beyond their control.

Arguing that father time is catching up to a handful of NHLers, Nugent-Hopkins ranks right near the top of the list, with his point pace plummeting from years past.

Pidutti writes of Nugent-Hopkins future in the NHL: Hes on the wrong side of 30 and struggling in his minutes away from McDavid.

Father Time assigns three months probation to get his game in order quickly or face the same sentencing guidelines as teammate Jeff Skinner.

Essentially, the argument is that if Nugent-Hopkins cant find a way to produce and start upping his game, he could face the same fate as Skinner who cant seem to get a solid look by head coach Kris Knoblauch and despite his history of offense on the power play and in other key situations, he wont see the ice in those situations to make the most of them.

Its Been a Slower Couple of Seasons for Nugent-Hopkins Noting hes on pace for just 12 goals and 41 points, Nugent-Hopkins has hit a rough patch offensively.

And, this isnt the first season its happened.

Once a consistent scoring threat, his production has dipped alarmingly, with his current pace a far cry from the 104 points he posted in 2022-23.

In 2023-24 he dropped to 67 points in the regular season, but he had a good run in the playoffs (22 points in 25 games) which left some thinking he still had top-star level production in him.

But, again this season, hes slipping.

The concerning part? His most frequent linemates this season include elite talents like Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard.

Now in his 14th NHL season, Nugent-Hopkins is nearing 1,000 career games, including playoffs.

His shot totals have dropped to just 2.1 per game, the lowest since he was 22.

What Does This Mean for the Oilers? Some argue this isnt about age or decline but about circumstances.

Edmontons power play, once record-setting, is not what it has been in the past.

It appears to be picking up momentum, which will help Nuges numbers, but theres a ways to go to get caught up.

With just four assists and no goals on the man advantage this season, Nugent-Hopkins historically strong reliance on power-play production has become a glaring issue.

Does this mean taking him off of that power play? It might.

Nugent-Hopkins remains valuable for his versatility and modest cap hit, but the clock is ticking.

At 30, hes underperforming to the point where the Oilers need to give some serious thought to how hes deployed.

Pidutti argues that his consistency has always been a question but something about this season feels different.

Hes unlikely to be traded thanks to his team-friendly deal in a world where the salary cap is going up.

That said, if the Oilers get into a financial bind and his production remains where it is now, conversations may occur.

How can they not? This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article.