Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins expected to miss road trip, updated return date emerges
Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is expected to miss his team's upcoming road trip, with his updated return date now set for November 29th, as per one insider.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (undisclosed injury) isn't traveling with the Oilers for their upcoming three-game road trip, per NHL insider Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 Edmonton on Tuesday.
What the new expected return date is
Nugent-Hopkins is expected to practice with the team next Monday in Edmonton following the road trip, and Gregor speculates that a return to the lineup on Nov. 29 in Seattle makes the most sense
The 32-year-old forward has missed five straight games and was placed on injured reserve back on Nov. 10.
Nugent-Hopkins has accounted for five goals, 16 points, with nine of those on the power play, and a really rough minus-11 rating through 16 appearances in 2025-26.
Why the Oilers are being extra cautious
The Oilers appear to want to be cautious with this type of injury. They do not want to risk aggravating, which could force Nugent-Hopkins to miss even more time.
Yesterday, GM Stan Bowman spoke of the injury and also hinted that Nugent-Hopkins would not make the trip.
"[Nugent-Hopkins is] not on the trip and I don't envision him joining us for this final week, so he's progressing. Hopefully he'll be back soon. I don't have an update on that.
We've not been able to get our full group together. It's probably gonna be till December by the time we get everyone, Kapanen, and all the whole crew back."
- Stan Bowman
We've not been able to get our full group together. It's probably gonna be till December by the time we get everyone, Kapanen, and all the whole crew back."
- Stan Bowman
It's beginning to get a bit frustrating that the Oilers routinely give out incorrect or incomplete injury information, and fans are not too happy, but it's a method to protect their players' privacy. Unfortunately, all we can now do is simply hope.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 18 | 122 ANSWERS Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins expected to miss road trip, updated return date emerges Are you confident that RNH will be back by November 29th? | ||
| Yes | 44 | 36.1 % |
| No | 78 | 63.9 % |
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