Edmonton Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins not confirmed yet for WJC -NHL Update
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Edmonton Oilers top pick of the 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft, has been officially invited to take part in the training camp for the World Junior Championships, but according to the Calgary Sun, his status is still
on hold.
He was back in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, after coming back from playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) minors with the Oklahoma City Barons, for an MRI on his shoulder, just as a precautionary measure, but his confirmation on the WJC roster is yet
to be made.
According to his agent, Rick Valette, through twitter, Ryan-Nugent Hopkins will remain in Edmonton for the time being and could be evaluated sometime next week.
“Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will remain in Edmonton this week to strengthen his shoulder. Decision on the World Juniors will be early next week.”
Nugent-Hopkins was picked up Edmonton as the first overall back in 2011. The native of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, had a top class season this past hockey year as he potted 52 points, consisting of 18 goals and 34 assists in 62 games. He could have
gotten much more for sure, but due to a minor shoulder injury during a regular season matchup forced him to take it easy for a number of games.
The young forward is also currently under contract with the Edmonton Oilers, who was signed on prior to the 2011-2012 regular season to a three-year, $2.775 million with an annual salary cap hit of $3.775 million due to a yearly $2.85 million amount in potential
bonuses. Due to this contract, Edmonton has the power to decide whether they will send Nugent-Hopkins back to the AHL for developmental purposes as long as the lockout continues, like the Ottawa Senators did with Mika Zibanejad, or could also allow him to
represent Canada in the World Junior Championship.
One of the biggest concerns for Edmonton would be not having Nugent-Hopkins available if a season was to start in the upcoming days if the league and Players’ Association reach a deal sometime in the near future.
Updates should be expected in the next couple of days.
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