It was announced today that 19 year old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a finalist for the Calder Trophy along with fellow rookies Grabriel Landeskog (Avalanche), and Adam Henrique (Devils). Nugent-Hopkins completed his rookie season, albeit abbreviated with an impressive 52 points in 62 games.
"It's a big honour." said Nugent-Hopkins who is now getting set to play for his country in Europe. "I got lucky coming to the Oilers. I've been given a great opportunity here and have been able to play with some great players, so it's been a lot of fun."
"The Nuge" as he is often referred to, was nearly a-point-per- game player until the untimely shoulder injury he suffered back in January versus the Chicago Blackhawks. In fact, leading up to his injury, Nugent-Hopkins was close to 15 points ahead all rookies.
"When I got hurt, I wasn't thinking about it, but it's one of those things where I started to a little bit at the end of the season because of all the questions that came up about it."
The NHL awards ceremony will take place in June 20th 2012 in Las Vegas.
For the 3rd consecutive year the Edmonton Oilers will once again choose the #1 draft pick for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The last team to secure the top spot thrice in a row was the Quebec Nordiques during the early 90's.
But who knew?? Going into the Lottery Draft the Oilers had a measly 18.8 % chance to win it, when all hockey pundits and experts thought for sure that the Columbus Blue Jackets would secure the top choice.
Perhaps it was meant to be.
"I guess if you're in the lottery and you come here you might as well win it," said Steve Tambellini. "I feel really excited about the fact that now another young talent hopefully at the level of what the past few picks have been. To add another player like that is pretty exciting for our organization."
No kidding. 2010 Draft Pick Taylor Hall has been nothing but GOLD for the Edmonton Oilers. Despite having a rough 2 years in the show due to injuries, Hall has managed to live up to the hype and the sophomore was 5 points shy of reaching 100 career points.
Rookie sensation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the clear winner of the 2011 Draft and after boasting 52 points in 62 games in his first season for the Oil, it is rumored that the 19 year-old will win the Calder despite having less goals than Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog. Moreover, Nugent-Hopkins will represent Canada at the World Hockey Championship along side with Jordan Eberle (who led the team in scoring with 76 points by the way).
With an embarrassing amount of talent at their finger-tips, who will the Oilers pick when Steve Tambellini steps up to the podium at the Energy Console Centre in Pittsburgh?
Nail Yakupov
"I'm looking to know the top picks. Not only in what they do on the ice, but most importantly really makes them tick." said Tambellini.
The consensus among all scouting is that Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov is slated to go #1 at this years draft. While Steve Tambellini understands were the 5'10" 170 pound Russian is positioned, Tambellini will do exactly what he has done in recent years and will remain mum about who he will choose.
It was announced today that 19 year old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a finalist for the Calder Trophy along with fellow rookies Grabriel Landeskog (Avalanche), and Adam Henrique (Devils). Nugent-Hopkins completed his rookie season, albeit abbreviated with an impressive 52 points in 62 games. 
