His name is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but has he felt more like Ryan Flugent-Hopkins the last few days.
The Edmonton Oilers’ top centre was first believed to have the flu, but it turned out to he was actually suffering from strep throat and a separate virus that hit him hard last week.
“It was Wednesday morning when I woke up and felt it,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “I made it down to the rink in the morning, but when I came back again for the game (against San Jose) it was decided I shouldn’t play.”
He didn’t play that night against the Sharks and it was the same story Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. “It was tough to watch the first game on TV,” said the 19-year-old. “So for the second one I came down to the rink just to feel a little more like a part of the team.”
The fact he was feeling anything at all was a big change after the way Wednesday, Thursday and Friday went.
“I was basically just lying around trying to drink fluids and I couldn’t eat much expect for some soup,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
With that in mind it’s hard to determine upon his return to the lineup Monday against the Nashville Predators whether he’ll stay near his average ice time, which so far this season stands at 19:32 per game.
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“Well he certainly has recovered from his virus and he’s ready and good to go,” Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger said. “We’ll have to see about how much ice time he gets. That’s something we’ll have to monitor.”
The former first-overall pick started to recover on the weekend, skated with the Oilers Monday morning and will return tonight after his two-game absence.
“I feel much better and I don’t think energy will be a problem,” Nugent-Hopkins explained. “I think I’m fully recovered.”
While he may be back to full speed, his weight might not be quite back to where it was before getting a double dose of illness.
“I may have lost a little weight, but I don’t think it was much,” Nugent-Hopkins added. RNH is a player, or more specifically a person, who can’t afford to lose much weight off his already slender physique. He is listed at 185 pounds.
Monday against Nashville we’ll find out if he can pull his weight and help out a team that lost both games without him in the lineup. It’s the second time this season Nugent-Hopkins has missed time. The other was back on Feb. 6 when he didn’t play against the Dallas Stars after suffering a shoulder injury on Feb. 4 against the Vancouver Canucks. To make room for the return of Nugent-Hopkins, Teemu Hartikainen was assigned to Oklahoma City of the AHL.