EDMONTON, AB — The Edmonton Oilers are no longer a two-man team.
For several years now, the top of the NHL scoring leaderboard has been dominated by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and that indeed remains the case in 2022-23.
But there's another name up there, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might be the guy to help that dynamic duo go deeper in the postseason this year.
Nugent-Hopkins sits sixth in scoring with 96 points (35 goals, 61 assists), and only Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Matthew Tkachuk stand between him and his Oilers teammates among the NHL's elite scorers this season.
The Oilers forwards has already smashed his career highs in goals and points (previously 28 and 69 respectively), and it's been a long time coming for the first overall pick from the 2011.
"This has been brewing for a while," according to Brett Holden of Locked on Oilers. "And for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to produce a goal and four assists, five points, his 96th of the season against the Pacific Division leaders in the Vegas Golden Knights ... that not only shows that you're a star in the NHL, that shows you're a leader on a winning hockey team."
Nugent-Hopkins is currenty on a nine-game point streak in which he's amassed 18 points, including the five-point outburst against Vegas on Tuesday.
Last year, the Oliers advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Nugent-Hopkins contributed 14 points in 16 playoff games, three of which came against Colorado.
The Oilers brought in Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators, and are tightening things up on the back end.
Edmonton has legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, and could be favored in the West based on this three-headed monster up front, and especially after taking care of Vegas as they did the other night.