[ebayfeedsforwordpress feed=”https://www.auctionrequest.com/arfeed.php?uid=Hoc5f6f75588916&keyword=%22ryan%22+%22nugent-hopkins%22+%22jersey%22+-photo+-bobblehead+-helmet+-magnets+-pin+-puck+-magnet+-mcfarlane+-crest+-photograph&sortOrder=StartTimeNewest&programid=1&campaignid=5336160976&listingType1=All&cond=1&categoryId1=24409″ items=”100″ header=””]
Check out our current selection of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins jerseys below. Home, away, authentic RBK Edge and replica jerseys available. Vintage throwback, third jerseys and more. Edmonton Oilers, Red Deer Rebels and Team Canada World Juniors sweaters. S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL sizes with kids and women’s styles in stock.
More About Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Edmonton Oilers fans haven’t had much to cheer about in recent years. Ever since their Cinderella playoff run in 2006 that saw them get to within one game of winning the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history the team has been in a slide. The slide has turned into an avalanche and in each of the last two seasons the club has finished dead last. Yes, 30th out of 30 teams.
Luckily for the Oilers and their fans, failure in the NHL does come with a reward. That reward? A high draft pick to help rebuild and become competitive again. This system helps ensure that bad teams don’t become permanently mired in the basement of the league. Last year fans celebrated when the club won the draft lottery, earning themselves the first overall pick. With that pick they drafted phenom Taylor Hall. Hall joined a number of other talented rookies including Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi and Linus Omark and fans in Edmonton were treated to some very exciting, if inconsistent hockey in the 2010-11 season.
Though there were many bright moments over the year, ultimately youth could not overcome inexperience as well as some gaping roster holes. The team finished last. Again, fans waited with bated breath for the outcome of the draft lottery, and again they got to celebrate when it was revealed they’d landed the number one pick.
Last year going into the draft the big mystery was whether the Oilers would select Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. This year the issue was even cloudier. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the scouts’ choice as the best player available. However, he was another forward and the Oilers had a plethora of young talent up front. Some fans and pundits thought that the Oilers would be better off selecting a defensive star like Swede Adam Larsson or the towering Dougie Hamilton. Either of those young men would have been a wonderful fit for the defensively-deficient Oilers.
However, the Oilers, though possessed of many great young forwards, also have a whole up the middle, and Nugent-Hopkins is a center. In the end it made sense to take not only the best player in the draft, but a centerman that could one day star alongside winger Taylor Hall.
Where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can make the leap to the NHL immediately remains to be seen. Currently he is listed at 6′ tall and approximately 170 points. That is pretty slim for an NHL centerman. However, his on-ice vision is said to be extraordinary and has drawn favorable comparisons to Sidney Crosby and even Wayne Gretzky. His skill-set may be enough to overcome his lack of size at this point.
If he can crack the club watch for Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall to swiftly become one of the NHL’s most dynamic duos. If he can put up the kind of numbers that he did in junior you can bet that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins jerseys will be flying off the shelves in stores throughout Edmonton.