Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the apple of the eye of many NHL general managers and why wouldn't he be when the kid put up 106 points for the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League this last season. Most of those points came via the assist with 75 as he showed scouts and fans alike the ability to find teammates and get them the puck with regularity.
“Very slick play-making center who has excellent vision, playmaking skills and an active stick,” one NHL scout told me about Nugent-Hopkins. “He is slight right now but should fill out. Could be that point-producing front line center all NHL teams need.”
B.J. MacDonald from Central Scouting didn't vary from those opinions either.
“(Nugent-Hopkins) has very good puck-handling capabilities,” MacDonald said. “His on-ice awareness is very good. He's one of those guys that knows where everyone is and where they should be and where the puck should go. He can dish both right or left, either on his backhand or forehand with that kind of vision.”
There's a player that just like his number has pretty much been retired from comparison to but there are some in the NHL that are willing to make such a comparison.
“A couple of people high up and not naming names said Hopkins has the best vision since number 99 (Wayne Gretzky),” Central Scouting's Peter Sullivan was told. “That's the highest compliment you can get. But the other thing is the way he competes. He never takes a night off and he works as hard in his own end as he does in the offensive zone and that takes a special player with a special set of skills to do that.”
Sometimes that's what gets lost when you watch Nugent-Hopkins. You get hypnotized by his high end skill that you forget about how hard he works and his high IQ. Due to his skill, work ethic, hockey smarts and also from being from Burnaby, British Columbia comparisons to Joe Sakic is the name that keeps coming up. If teams could be assured about a career from RNH that is anywhere close to Sakic, teams would be stumbling all over themselves trying to trade up to Edmonton's first overall pick to grab him.
Nugent-Hopkins knows that he will need a complete game when he hits the NHL and he's letting the NHL general managers that he knows it.
“I'd tell them (general managers) that I can bring a constant, hard work ethic,” the skilled center told HockeyProspect.com in the fall. “I'd try to work as hard as I can every day. I think I have some good offensive skill and I'm working on my two-way game. I definitely will try to be a leader too.”
RNH won't have to sell himself too hard as he will hardly get settled into his seat in Minnesota for the NHL Draft before his name will be called. Most likely he's going to stay in western Canada as Edmonton is expected to take him with the first overall pick but if for some reason the Oilers throw a curve ball and go a different direction, he won't last past the next pick.
***Note: This is the first installment of player previews for the 2011 NHL Draft. I will be doing a prospect a day leading up to the first round. Be sure to tune in as I will have quotes from NHL scouts and other experts.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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