Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: Skates Tuesday morning

Nugent-Hopkins (ribs) skated for the first time since Jan. 13, Paul Gazzola of the Oilers' official site reports.

Nugent-Hopkins won't return until March at the earliest, so Anton Slepyshev will likely continue to slot into the lineup until then. The 24-year-old pivot took a backseat role to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl last season, but he's picked up the pace this campaign with 16 goals and 31 points through 46 games. Further, the Oilers have won just four of 12 games without him in the lineup, but that may be more of a reflection of the Oilers' disappointing season as a whole rather than Nugent-Hopkins' absence.