No player on the trade block in the NHL right now could be a bigger get for the Canes than Edmonton Oilers star center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The former first overall pick of Edmonton is on pace to have another great season.
However, a good portion of the league is after Nugent-Hopkins and he’ll be a hot name mentioned around the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. That is if the Oilers have not dealt him already. Part of this rumors has to do with the unexpected struggles the Oilers had to start the year.
If the Oilers start to get things going, Nugent-Hopkins becomes a very valuable piece to them. But, he cannot maximize his spotlight in Edmonton. There’s just too much young talent on a team that is still trying to find its identity in 2017-18.
Adding a first line center, to replace Jordan Staal and/or Victor Rask as the top option, like Nugent-Hopkins is a crazy thought for the Canes. The amount of scoring ability on the wings between Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, and Jeff Skinner needs a quality center to connect it all together.