Oilers Lose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Injury Before the Season Even Starts
Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will miss the start of the 2026-27 NHL season with a lower-body injury, dealing an early blow to an aging roster looking to bounce back from a disappointing playoff exit.
HotTakes Editorial TeamUpdated 2 min read
Finding live odds…
The Edmonton Oilers are kicking off the 2026-27 season exactly how every aging Stanley Cup contender wants to start: by immediately losing a core piece to the trainer's room.
According to Daily Faceoff, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will miss the start of the regular season with a lower-body injury. There is no official timeline yet, which is always the exact phrase you want to hear about a guy who plays heavy top-six minutes.
"Daily Faceoff reported: 'Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to miss start of 2026-27 season with lower-body injury'"
Nugent-Hopkins is 33 now, which in NHL years means his check engine light is permanently on. He joins a roster where Zach Hyman is 34 and Leon Draisaitl is about to turn 31, making the Oilers' forward group look less like a hockey lineup and more like a waiting room at a physical therapy clinic.
This is a brutal early blow for an Edmonton team desperate to wash off the stink of last year. After getting bounced by the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the first round, the Oilers fired head coach Kris Knoblauch and promised a fresh start. Instead, they are already down the two-way safety blanket who makes their power play hum.
Nugent-Hopkins is in the back half of his eight-year, $41 million deal, and his injury history is starting to read like a CVS receipt. He has battled shoulder, hand, and head issues over the last few seasons, and now a lower-body problem is keeping him in the press box.
If you are looking at early-season puck lines or Western Conference futures, you have to factor in this lineup shuffle. The Oilers managed to scrape together a couple of 2-1 wins over the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks recently, but regular-season hockey without your most reliable complementary scorer is a different math problem entirely.
Edmonton hosts the Canucks on September 30 before heading to Vancouver a few days later. Until the medical staff gives a real update on Nugent-Hopkins, expect Connor McDavid to have to play half the game just to keep this offense afloat.
Key stats
Key statsNugent-Hopkins is 33 years old and in the back half of an 8-year, $41 million contract.
Zach Hyman is 34 and Leon Draisaitl is turning 31 in October.
The Oilers recently secured 2-1 wins over the Jets and Canucks without him in the lineup.
What's next
The Oilers face the Vancouver Canucks in upcoming matchups on September 30 and October 2, where they will have to rely even more heavily on Connor McDavid.
