Ken Holland has taken care of a big piece of off-season business by re-signing forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to an eight-year, $41 million extension.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the extension includes a full no-move clause.
Nugent-Hopkins, 28, was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. This deal keeps him in Edmonton through the 2028-29 NHL season. He will also take on a lower salary cap hit -- $5.125M -- than his previous contract, which carried a $6M average annual value.
RNH contract strucutre:
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 29, 2021
21-22: $5M salary
22-23: $5.25M salary
23-24: $6.25M salary
24-25: $6.25M salary
25-26: $4M salary plus $2M sb
26-27: $2.25M salary plus $2.5M sb
27-28: $2.5M salary plus $1.25M sb
28-29: $3.75M salary
“I love being an Oiler. I always have. My goal has always been to stay an Oiler,” Nugent-Hopkins said following the Oilers’ playoff exit. “It’s something I’ve taken a lot of pride in for the last 10 years.”
“For Nuge, term was important,” Holland said Tuesday. “He loves the city, the team and the fanbase. He wants to be an Oiler.”
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Only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have scored more goals and recorded more points than Nugent-Hopkins (66 goals, 165 points) over the last three seasons. His even-strength production, however, took a dip with only 15 points this season compared to 37 and 40 the last two years. You’d expect more when playing on a line with Connor McDavid most of the time, right?
Nugent-Hopkins was the one of the big tickets for Holland this offseason. Tyson Barrie, coming off a 48-point season, can be an unrestricted free agent as well. There are a few other potential UFAs (Alex Chiasson, Tyler Ennis, Mike Smith) and restricted free agents (Jujhar Khaira, Kailer Yamamoto, Dominik Kahun) to figure out as well.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.