Oilers Lose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Injury Before the Season Even Starts
Daily Faceoff reported: 'Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to miss start of 2026-27 season with lower-body injury'
The 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, will miss the start of the regular season with a lower-body injury. There is no official timeline yet, is always the exact phrase you want to hear about a guy who plays heavy top-six minutes.
is 33 now, in NHL years means his check engine light is permanently on. He joins a roster where is 34 and 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 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 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.
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 managed to scrape together a couple of 2-1 wins over the Winnipeg Jets and recently, but regular-season hockey without your most reliable complementary scorer is a different math problem entirely.
hosts the Canucks on September 30 before heading to a few days later. Until the medical staff gives a real update on , expect to have to play half the game just to keep this offense afloat.