Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins placed on injured reserve
A tough blow for a team that’s already having a rough start to the young season.
When speaking to the media on Monday, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is going to be out at least one week due to injury. Mattias Janmark, who has been out for the first month of the campaign due to injury, will be making his season debut on Monday night when the Oilers host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
According to Daily Faceoff host Jason Gregor, Nugent-Hopkins will be placed on injured reserve as well.
RNH is out at least a week. He will go to IR and Janmark will play tonight.
Lazar comes in for Tomasek.
Skinner starts.
It hasn’t been specified when or where exactly Nugent-Hopkins was injured. He was in the lineup on Saturday night, when the Oilers were swamped 9-1 by the Colorado Avalanche. However, RNH played a season-low 14:50 of ice time and finished the contest with a plus/minus of -4.
The 32-year-old had appeared in each of the team’s first 16 games of the season, scoring five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He is one of three Oilers who have managed to average a point per game so far this season, with the other two being forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Yet, their production hasn’t helped Edmonton string wins together. Along with Saturday’s loss at home, the Oilers have dropped three games in a row and are losers in three of their past four games. The team has won just six of its first 16 games of the 2025-26 campaign, and though it has performed better this October compared to years past, there’s growing concern about whether Edmonton has what it takes to turn things around once again.
With Nugent-Hopkins going on IR, he will also miss the Oilers’ first three games of their upcoming six-game swing through the Eastern Conference, which will see the team take on the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes.