Today marks the official return of Nail Yakupov to Edmonton. He practiced here yesterday, but tonight is when eyes will be glued to the man wearing 64 in strange colours.
Yakupov was sent out of town with knives in his back, as is Oiler tradition. His value as a hockey player slandered until the Oilers could scarcely find a taker willing to give up a mid-round pick. The Blues took him for a 3rd round pick that might turn into a 2nd round pick, if Yakupov scores 15 goals this season. In terms of actual value, this is nothing. And surely the least a former 1st overall pick has been traded for since Patrik Stefan.
For the Oilers, they saw it as addition by subtraction. A puzzle piece that didn’t fit was ruining the overall picture. That’s my read on the situation as information dripped out about the relationship between the team and the player they selected 1st overall. Yakupov is, by all accounts, a different kind of person and player. He’s a shy kid with devout religious beliefs who did not partake in the usual recreational/team-building activities of his fellow teammates.
He was an outsider socially and on the ice he was asked to do things the young offensive players who came before him were not. While others were given minutes in offensive situations regardless of defensive mistakes, Yakupov was told he had to earn those minutes with solid defensive play. Once again, Yakupov found himself an outsider, this time on the ice. He was an offensive player who was playing with Mark Letestu or Derek Roy instead of the ready-made offensively talented NHL centers on the team.
Despite the evidence that he was performing better defensively, the story never changed – and never will in Edmonton. He couldn’t play in his own zone and couldn’t contribute offensively. That made him worth nothing in the eyes of many and obviously the Oiler management as well.
So he’s a Blue now.
St Louis under Hitchcock made it clear that the plan was to slowly acclimatize Yakupov to the new system. He would get 5v5 minutes only at first before they slowly mixed in more special teams and certainly before they moved him up the depth chart. Right now, it looks like that plan is paying off. Yakupov is among the Blues’ shot attempt and scoring chance percentage leaders and is getting recognized for solid play.
When they got him, Hitchcock focused less on what he had done before and more on how he fit with the club. “We don’t need saving,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We just need another guy to fit into our team. As long as he works hard and is a good teammate, that’s what we’re looking for. He’s got an element we need. He’s got some speed and ability to make plays off the rush. The only expectation is to fit in. Where he got drafted, what year he got drafted for us in St. Louis is irrelevant.” Read the article this quote originated from
here.
He’s already started practicing with the Power Play unit and was promoted a line by Hitchcock after playing well. It’s a slow start, but a fresh one for Yakupov, who was not going to be given that opportunity in Edmonton. His coach was surprised by how much better defensively he was than had been advertised. If Yak can find a way to keep impressing a coach like Hitch then it wont be long before he’s reformed that reputation.
LINEUP
Caggiula is weeks away. Hendricks is the same. Davidson is on IR. Gustavsson was maimed by Larsson. Fayne was injured after a little less than 3 minutes.
Lucic McDavid Eberle
Pouliot RNH Kassian
Maroon Draisaitl Slepyshev
Pitlick Letestu Lander
Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Gryba
Talbot
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Biggest Test. The Blues are the best team the Oilers will have faced this far into the season. Edmonton has played against the Flames twice, the Hurricanes, and the Sabres. The Blues had had a lot more success in recent years than any of those clubs. They are not the same team as they had been in the past. For one, the hated David Backes is no longer there to rub a stanky glove into Edmonton’s face. Edmonton played a tighter game against the Hurricanes, but St Louis has better shooters and will apply better pressure.
2) This is Spinal Tap. The bottom of Edmonton’s roster is basically a running list of Spinal Tap drummers. Each one is dying an unforeseen and tragic death. Mark Fayne was barely into the game when a phantom play lead to him being out for what might be weeks. I couldn’t even tell you what happened. He was just gone. That makes Edmonton’s 6th and 7th defenders out. Gryba is in that spot now but at this point he should be worried about some strange Final Destination accident taking him out too. This team needs to make it through a few games without losing someone new.
3) Tarasankshow. Vladimir Tarasenko has 4 goals and 2 assists through his first 4 games. He’s also tied for 3rd in shots on net with 19 while averaging 20 minutes a night. If Edmonton circled a name other than Nail Yakupov (who will be out to make a statement) then it was Tarasenko. He was 13th in NHL scoring a year ago with 74 points, 40 of which were goals. Edmonton cannot afford to let this elite forward take over the game. This is why Edmonton went after Adam Larsson. I expect that pair to get a heavy dose of Tarasenko.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On!
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