Oilers news: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played in the Stanley Cup Final with a broken hand.

With the Edmonton Oilers season now officially in the rearview mirror, the media availability with some of the players has concluded. Here is what Captain Connor McDavid had to say about the injured players, or the ones who were not 100%.

“Missing Hyman in a series where speed and battles and getting up the ice were an issue, those are Zach’s speciality. Nuge to gut it out with a broken hand and give us what he gave us was pretty special. That was a painful thing for him.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was competing in the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final with a broken hand, and that explains his level of play on the ice and how he performed.

If we had to guess, this occurred in the series against the Dallas Stars, as there was a noticeable shift in his production following a hard crash into the boards during that series.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stats in the playoffs

Before having to play with a broken hand, Nugent-Hopkins saw some pretty solid production with 18 points in 16 games played. He had five points in six games against the Los Angeles Kings – three goals and two assists – with those points coming in the final four games.

In the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, Nugent-Hopkins continued his strong start to the playoffs, with four points in the first three games of the series – four assists – Unfortunately, he was held off the scoresheet in the final two games of round two.

Moving on to the Western Conference Finals, and this is where Nugent-Hopkins had a stellar series and his best of the playoffs. With nine points through the first four games, he crushed it this series with two goals and seven assists. He was pointless in game five of the series, but had the same amount of points in four games as he did through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Finally, in the Stanley Cup Final is where his production dropped off, because of his injury – broken hand. Nugent-Hopkins was only able to put two points on the board – one goal and one assist – and they came in game four of the series. I think that it was too little, too late at that point.

Final thoughts on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ injury

Obviously it sucked hearing about one of the core players having to play through some of the playoffs with an injury, and with a broken hand. I could only imagine how tough it must have been for not just him as an athlete, but for his teammates and the team as well.

I am sure that Nugent-Hopkins will rest up this off-season, enjoy his time off, but come back stronger and hungrier for a push next season. The Edmonton Oilers only have one goal in mind and that is to make it back to the playoffs and finally win the Stanley Cup.

Let us know your thoughts on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins injury in the comments.