Nugent-Hopkins Career After Most Games As An Oiler

There aren't many people who would have stuck around for all of it.

For a while, being an Edmonton Oiler meant spending April cleaning out your locker and watching the playoffs from home, but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins lived through it all. And now, 15 years after arriving in Edmonton as an 18-year-old first-overall pick, he's played more games in an Oilers uniform than anyone else in franchise history.

Nugent-Hopkins passed Kevin Lowe's record of 1,037 games last night against the New Jersey Devils, adding another accomplishment to a career that began when Edmonton selected him in the 2011 NHL Draft.

And what a career it's been.

When Nugent-Hopkins arrived in Edmonton, the Oilers were coming off consecutive last-place finishes. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle were supposed to help lead the organization out of its rebuild, and the 18-year-old from Burnaby was another piece of that plan.

He scored in his NHL debut against Pittsburgh, finished his rookie season with 52 points in 62 games, and became one of Edmonton's most promising young players.

Nugent-Hopkins went his first five NHL seasons without a playoff appearance, played through the final years of the Decade of Darkness, including coaching changes, questionable roster decisions, and plenty of empty seats at Rexall Place.

The Oilers drafted Nail Yakupov first overall in 2012, then Hall got traded to New Jersey in 2016, Eberle left for the Islanders a year later, and Nugent-Hopkins eventually became one of the few remaining players from that original rebuild.

Of course, he was also there when Connor McDavid was drafted.

The Oilers returned to the playoffs in 2017, ending an 11-year drought, though another two seasons without postseason hockey followed. Through it all, Nugent-Hopkins continued to play whatever role Edmonton needed.

Originally drafted as a top-line centre, he eventually moved to the wing, became a regular on the penalty kill, and developed into an important piece of Edmonton's power play. He's played alongside McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, centred his own line, and done just about anything else asked of him

His willingness to adapt has probably cost him some individual recognition over the years.

There was, however, that 2022-23 season.

Nugent-Hopkins scored 37 goals and 104 points in 82 games, becoming the third member of Edmonton's offence to reach 100 points that year. It was his first 100-point season, coming more than a decade after he entered the league.

He now has 294 goals, 517 assists, and 811 points in an Oilers uniform. He ranks among the franchise's all-time leaders in each category, despite spending much of his career playing behind some of the greatest talents the organization has ever had.

Nugent-Hopkins played an important role in Edmonton's runs in 2024 and 2025, finally getting the opportunity to compete for a cup after spending his early twenties rarely making the playoffs.

He still hasn't won the Cup, something that would certainly complete a career that has already given him just about everything else.

Plenty of players have come through Edmonton over the past 16 seasons, some by choice and others through trades that were supposed to improve the team. Nugent-Hopkins has remained through all of it, signing an eight-year extension in 2021 that made his intentions to finish his career in Edmonton pretty clear.

"This was the dream when I got drafted, and I haven't wavered throughout my whole career that I want to be an Edmonton Oiler," Nugent-Hopkins said on Tuesday. "Start my career here, finish my career here. It means a ton to me."

McDavid, who has spent his entire NHL career alongside Nugent-Hopkins, also acknowledged what his teammate has meant to the organization.

"You think early in his career, they missed the playoffs for however many years, and not a lot of guys get to see a rebuild all the way through and see the other side of it," McDavid said. "He's done that, and it's a big credit to him for his commitment to the city, to the organization, and to the fanbase."

It's fitting that Nugent-Hopkins now holds a record previously belonging to Lowe, another player whose career was closely tied to the Oilers organization.

Lowe won five Stanley Cups in Edmonton and was part of the franchise's greatest era. Nugent-Hopkins has spent his career trying to help bring another cup back to this city.

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