Report: McLellan praises his best forward

The Edmonton Oilers are 1-2-0 to start the season, and while all the hype has been around bonafide superstar Connor McDavid, as it should be, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has quietly been the best forward on the team, as far as head coach Todd McLellan is concerned. 

"Arguably he's been our best forward. He's played very competitively all over the rink, on both sides of the puck. Haven't seen a lot of cheat in his game. He's used his ability to stand over pucks and protect them in his skates well and he's getting rewarded around the net, where some of our other guys who we expect to be productive, they're not quite doing those things, and guess what, they've got goose eggs, so, I think he's been a very effective player for us to this point."

The former first overall pick has been playing an excellent 200-foot game - playing with competitiveness and displaying his hockey IQ every night on a line with Milan Lucic, who Nugent-Hopkins believes he's developing great chemistry with.

Nugent-Hopkins has 2 goals in 3 games - but it's not simply his production that's impressed McLellan, clearly. 

The player has been involved in trade talks for quite some time, and with McDavid's contract extension set to kick in next year, there's a good chance that they trade Nugent-Hopkins and his $6 million contract at the end of the season.

He's only boosting his value.