ST. LOUIS, MO – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been such a steady presence since he arrived in Oil Country, that you wouldn’t imagine he’s already hitting the top three for games played in an Oilers uniform.
But yet, he's been here so long and contributed so much over his career that it shouldn't be all that surprising.
On Thursday night in St. Louis, forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will tie Hall of Famer Mark Messier for the third-most games played in an Oilers uniform in franchise history when he suits up for the 851st game of his NHL career – all in the famous Blue & Orange of Edmonton.
The Burnaby, BC product woke up this morning prepared just like any other game day to keep contributing to the only NHL club he's ever known, which he's given everything for after being drafted first overall by the Oilers at the 2011 NHL Draft.
He didn't know about the milestone until he was walking into Enterprise Center for the team's morning skate when a teammate let him know that he'd be reaching a historic number of games with the franchise.
Even for Nugent-Hopkins, it's tough to wrap his head around.
"Somebody told me that when I walked in today and I'm definitely honoured to be a part of this organization for this long," he said. "It's crazy to me to think that I'm hitting third all-time, so it means a ton to me to be part of this group. And obviously, I've been very fortunate to be able to stick around and play my whole career here, so I'm excited and hopefully, a big win tonight."