While the Oilers were believed to be making progress on a long-term extension with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the days leading up to the opening of free agency in October, those talks instead appear to have been shelved. GM Ken Holland spoke with reporters on Monday (video link), and indicated that those discussions are on the back burner for now:
His agent Rick Valette and I had many conversations during the two weeks around free agency in October. But the marketplace has changed so much that basically our conversations have ended, and I would hope at some point once we get up and running, we can pick back up and see if we can find a solution to keep Nuge in an Oilers uniform. Certainly, that’s my goal, but the deal’s got to work for Ryan and for the Oilers.
The 27-year-old has been a mainstay in Edmonton’s lineup since they selected him with the first-overall pick back in 2011. While he hasn’t quite lived up to the offensive expectations associated with that selection, Nugent-Hopkins has certainly been a core piece and in recent years, his production has improved as he has spent more time on the wing alongside one of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Last season, he had the highest point-per-game mark of his career (0.94), notching 22 goals and 39 assists in 65 games while averaging 20:28 per night in ice time.
It’s that uptick in production that makes his deal a little trickier to finalize right now. His current contract carries a $6MM AAV and salary. Had he continued to hover around the 50-point mark as he had before the 2018-19 campaign, he likely would have only been in line for a small raise. However, if his production stays at that level, the asking price is only going to go higher. While Edmonton will have some cap flexibility next offseason (around $28MM), they still have half a roster to fill out with that money and taking a quarter of that or more for Nugent-Hopkins will certainly take a big chunk out of it.
For his part, Nugent-Hopkins doesn’t seem to be too worried about the step back in discussions, telling 630 CHED’s Reid Wilkins (audio link) that his focus now is simply on the upcoming season.
Obviously a weird, different time to be talking contracts. Right now, I’m just focused on getting the season started. In my mind, I know it’s there, but I’m going to put it on the back burner and just really focus on getting the season going and getting started the right way.
As things stand, Nugent-Hopkins will be one of the top forwards available if he makes it to the open market next summer. Whether it comes from Edmonton or someone else, he should be able to still land a raise, even in a UFA market that should largely resemble this one with very limited cap space to go around.
RNH is an essential piece to the Oilers. Not only as a fan favorite but a straw. Even club mates say how much they like his presence. If not him, they may as well trade CMD and Drai and bring back Hall and Ebs. At least the fans liked their community (bar) representation. If your not gonna try to win… bring in city favorites and make them hopeful there.
If you are suggesting it’s cool to see Oilers players at the bar, I’m amazed. The last thing someone making millions of dollars a year to play a game should be doing is imbibing alcohol before and/or after a game. Does not make for a winning formula.
Rumor mill has it McDavid living with Hall was one reason he was traded away… cuz he partied too much and wasn’t focused on his game and McDavid wasn’t impressed. Look up what Andrew Ference had to say about the Oilers locker room after he retired; it isn’t good.
A re-sign is common sense, however much more than the current level will only eat into the cap that’s going to be needed to upgrade other areas if they’re going to progress. This one is tricky.