Who is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' father, Roger? All about the Edmonton Oilers center's family background

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins helped the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4. He turned out to be the man of the match for Edmonton. He has been part of the Oilers for more than a decade.

But did you know he had to take a sabbatical from hockey in 2011? Nugent-Hopkins wanted to be there for his father, Roger.

His father was going through a divorce at the same time that he received a cancer diagnosis. He also needed surgery to have his spleen removed. Due to the family's limited resources, Nugent-Hopkins was unable to continue playing hockey professionally that season.

Roger still remembers when his son and his classmates had to write essays on what they wanted to be when they grew up. The latter wrote he wanted to be an NHL hockey player.

Except for the idea his kid had, Roger claims there was no strategy to develop the youngster into a hockey prodigy.

“It wasn’t because like I said, ‘You got to do this.’ It was because he wanted to do it, and he never got enough of it.”

Despite having no strategy, both father and son were devoted to athletics and the development of Ryan as a player. At the draft, Roger wanted to see one thing more than anything else -- his son going to the Edmonton Oilers. His dream got fulfilled, and now, he is a 12-year veteran of the game.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and his NHL career so far

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins #93 of the Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was selected by the Edmonton Oilers as the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Nugent-Hopkins had 52 points in 62 games as a rookie in the NHL. In the vote for the Calder Trophy, given to the league's finest rookie, he came in second place to Gabriel Landeskog, a forward with the Colorado Avalanche.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 100 points for the first time in his NHL career during Edmonton's 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on April 5, 2023. He, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl made the Edmonton Oilers the first NHL club with three players to accomplish this feat in the same season since the 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins (Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, and Ron Francis) .

Additionally, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins became the sixth player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season after his 12th. The only other players to accomplish the this in the previous 50 years were him and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (2021–22, 14th season).