Well, it didn't take long for Nail Yakupov to get a cool nickname.

Yakupov's agent Igor Larionov revealed on Monday that Yakupov will wear #64 for the Oilers. Some say he's doing it to honor his idol Pavel Bure (6 + 4 = 10), but Larionov said #64 was the jersey number the Oilers gave Yakupov at Development Camp and he's decided to stick with it. Anyway, most excellent Oilers blogger Lisa McRitchie, who writes for www.kuklaskorner.com, came up with N64 for Yakupov. Hey, they called Mario Lemieux "Super Mario". Even played the Super Mario music for him all the time. I'm thinking N64 for Yakupov is going to stick.

They call Jordan Eberle "Ebs", Ryan Nugent-Hopkins "Nuge" and now Yakupov "N64". And Taylor Hall. Ummm, it's just "Hall". "Hallsy" I've heard too, but that isn't exactly interesting or original. They call Ryan Jones "Jonesy" for example. The "y" thing is a little old.

I mentioned the Nuge. Here's an interesting bit of information: Nugent-Hopkins will be eligible to play for the Oilers AHL team the Oklahoma City Barons during the lockout. If you're the Oilers, do you let him play in the minors? I'm split on this.

Obviously, he's going to improve more actually playing than he would sitting around waiting for the lockout to end. Having him dominate at the minor-league level could be good for the ol' self esteem. On the flip side, what if he gets hurt? Or, what if he struggles and it messes with his self esteem?

I'm thinking if he can be sent down, and if he's okay with it, he'll go. Which is very exciting stuff if you live in OKC and like hockey. Hey, I'd buy tickets to see the Barons play in 2012/2013. Should be an interesting team.

In OKC, the Barons should have a number of forwards worth watching: Nuge, Magnus Paajarvi, Anton Lander, Teemu Hartikainen, and Tyler Pitlick in particular. But the really interesting story will be on D. Talk about the Oilers future: Justin Schultz, Martin Marincin, Taylor Fedun, Colten Teubert, Alex Plante and maybe Brandon Davidson.

Here's a thought, Edmonton Oilers people: Figure out a way to broadcast Barons games online. It should be a team that dominates this season.

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