'He's All Character': Leon Draisaitl Gloats Over the Edmonton Oilers' Most Valuable Forward, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Leon Draisaitl had nothing but great things to say about the Edmonton Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports - 'He's All Character': Leon Draisaitl Gloats Over the Edmonton Oilers' Most Valuable Forward, Ryan Nugent-HopkinsEDMONTON -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been through a lot.
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The Edmonton Oilers' most underrated player has been through very lean years in Edmonton. He's the only current Oiler to have made it through the "decade of darkness" and is now on the verge of playing in his first Stanley Cup Final.
The Burnaby, British Columbia-native is a jack-of-all-trades. He's a power play specialist as well as a penalty killing aficionado. He also wears an "A" on his chest. There is no doubt that he would be the captain if Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl were not with the Oilers.
He's the Edmonton Oilers most valuable forward.
The 13-year veteran is "all character" as Draisaitl said yesterday in a media scrum before heading back to Edmonton.
"He's had so many tough years here and so many disappointments. You never hear him complain, you never hear him wanting to get out, you never hear him wanting to leave. He's just a great guy and a fantastic hockey player."
Not only does he have character, he has great skill in multiple facets of the game. Draisaitl is not blind to this, "[he] touches every part of the game, at all times. Probably one of the most underrated (and) underappreciated players in the game."
Nugent-Hopkins is the fourth Oilers' player this post season to have at least 20 points. He's also the first player over the boards for their tough-as-nails penalty kill. He's a true 200-foot player.
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Every team needs players with skill and every team needs players with character. Nugent-Hopkins has both in spades.
The Oilers could weather the storm of missing Draisaitl (or even McDavid) for a game or two. But to have to make up for the contributions of missing Nugent-Hopkins - that's nearly impossible.
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