Why this Edmonton Oilers star deserves to shine on the biggest stage: 9 Things

Article content

It is the dog days of August.

Some people think that is a baseball term that describes that jockeying for position in the standings during the sweltering summer. In actual fact, it is a phrase dating back to Roman times and has more to do with the stars than sports.

Although for one Edmonton Oilers star in particular, August has turned out to be a hopeful celestial event indeed.

That and more in this edition of…

9 Things

9. Barring injury, Leon Draisaitl will easily surpass a milestone that all but guarantees his spot in The Hockey Hall of Fame, if it is not already. Draisaitl is just forty-four points away from 1,000 NHL regular season games.

8. I tend not to comment on player’s personal lives. They share enough of themselves already. But on the occasion of Draisaitl’s wedding, I did reflect on how startlingly short of a time it seems since Edmonton drafted the young man. My, how time does fly.

7. Draisaitl and Connor McDavid will break another long-standing Edmonton Oilers record this season. One of them may even break in in Game One. Both men are tied with the great Glenn Anderson with seventy-two game winning goals in franchise history.

6. One young Edmonton Oiler who I will have an eye on this fall will be Beau Akey. Taken 56^th overall in the 2023 draft, injuries have set back the talented blueliner. But he is finally 100%. He will not make the big club out of camp. But a full season in Bakersfield should tell the team exactly what they’ve got. Can he develop into a two-way, bottom-pairing D-man?

5. Another young guy to watch but who is not a prospect anymore is Noah Philp. The biggest season of his life is ahead of him. In a fifteen-game audition in the NHL, the right-shot center showed he could handle the defensive responsibilities at this level. But can he crack a lineup bent on a Stanley Cup? That is a different challenge. Philp is now also waiver eligible.

4. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation is sinking $21m into its Every Kid Deserves a Shot program. It is a terrific initiative in that it helps kids in all socio-economic situations participate in a sport that is increasingly expensive. I will never forget how much time and money my own Dad gave so that I had a shot. Not all families can manage that, which is a real shame. Well done.

3. Connor McDavid is more than entitled to dictate the timing of his decision on a possible extension. But while I 100% defend the player’s rights in situations like that, it also opens the door to some of the wild speculation you have probably read the past few weeks, from a trade to L.A. to how his “best days may be behind him”. You might write that in stuff August when there is nothing else to print. One assumes his agent warned him of that side-effect.

2. I was away when the court decision came down in the Hockey Canada scandal involving the five former members of the 2018 World Junior team, as well as when the NHL’s subsequent decision to declare the five men “ineligible”, pending further analysis of the judge’s findings. My question on the latter would be how, exactly, is any league better equipped than a judge to determine culpability in any case where a verdict has already been delivered, guilty or not?

1.I think it is fair to say it was somewhat of a happy surprise when the Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was invited to the Team Canada Orientation camp for the 2026 Olympics in Italy. His one 100-point season aside, Nuge is perhaps what I would describe as ‘an elite complimentary NHL player’ as opposed to “elite, period”. But the longer I thought, the more I not only started to see the logic in the invitation. I started to think that Nugent-Hopkins could very well make this team. And perhaps should. I am not so sure that is a commonly held thought. But I am adopting it and here is why:

-Nugent-Hopkins has made a career out of two basic things, playing with the very best players and playing against the very best players. In an elite-level tournament such as the Olympics, which coach would not want those traits on his bench.

-To make Team Canada, you either need to be super elite at one thing, or a guy who can do everything. The Nuge fits into that second category. He can play any forward position, PP, PK, play up with elite talent or “down” as a checker.

-Big moments. Over the past two post-seasons Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been one of the Oilers very best playoffs performers when the competition was ti stiffest. He was particularly strong this past campaign. Cup experience is valuable. He has it.

-Finally, in high-stakes games a coach will want guys who he knows exactly what to expect from in any situation. And Ryan checks that box as well. He is a highly intelligent player who exhibited “Hockey IQ” as a raw rookie. And toss on top of that an, he has an unblemished character off the ice.

In short, when you examine all the critical attributes that one would need to be a Team Canada Olympian…

…there are precious few that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins does not bring.

Consistently.

Now on Bluesky @kurtleavins.bsky.social. Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social.

This article is not AI generated.

Recently, at The Cult…

STAPLES: A happy ending for this infamous Edmonton Oilers draft pick

LEAVINS: Things about the Oilers that make you go…Hmmm.

Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.

Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.