Rumor: Ottawa Senators Interested In Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

The Edmonton Oilers may not have enough money to go around this offseason and one player who could be on the outside looking in is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. If RNH is indeed headed to the free-agent market, expect the Ottawa Senators to offer him a big contract.

According to reports out of the Ottawa Sun, RNH is the perfect compliment to up-and-coming star Josh Norris and is expected to be a target:

If Smith intends to stick with The Kid Line of Tkachuk, Norris and Batherson, Nugent-Hopkins could step into the depth chart as a centre for Tim Stuetzle…. If Norris is struggling, or there are potential difficult opposition matchups — that has been a significant reason for the Senators road struggles for the past several seasons — Nugent-Hopkins would serve as another option for Smith.

The report went on to mention a multi-year contract around the $5.5 million mark is something that could make sense for the Senators. They have roughly $28 million in cap space this offseason and will be looking to make a few additions to their forward group. It's going to come down to how talks go between RNH's camp and Oilers general manager Ken Holland. The two are slated to meet in the coming weeks and everyone else around the NHL, including Sens management will be patiently waiting on the results.

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