In Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ rookie season, there was a stretch where he was out of the lineup for a month due to injury. In his first game back, against the Detroit Red Wings, he absolutely dangled future Hall of Famer Niklas Lidstrom — so much so that some joked ‘Nuge’ had deked him into retirement after the 2011–12 season — and in that moment, I thought, “Yup, this kid is going to be a good one for the Edmonton Oilers.”

‘Good’ turned out to be an understatement, as Nugent-Hopkins became, and still is, a fantastic, jack-of-all-trades player for the franchise and one of the best to ever suit up for the Oilers. With ‘Nuge’ set to play his 1,000th NHL game Sunday night against the St. Louis Blues, we highlight ten of his most memorable moments with the Oilers below.

Oilers select Nugent-Hopkins first overall at the 2011 NHL Draft

The Oilers drafted Taylor Hall first overall in 2010, and in 2011, they once again found themselves holding the number one pick at the NHL Draft.

Of course, the Oilers selected Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the first overall pick. After he was drafted, he said,........

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