So Yakupov currently has 1 more point the Mueller...

So statistically speaking, since they're both scoring forwards.. and Yakupov in his first season already has 1 more point, then Mueller the I am not a rookie.. That would make him better.. correct.. because he has more points.. in a league where scoring is the most important part.. Hmmm.

How friggin good are both of these guys compared to that Granlund kid??? WOW!

This is what losers do, all mired in a slumber of imperfection and micro statistical analysis. +/- is more of a unit performance, team play, moreso than the solo value of some players obviously struggling their first few yrs in the league.

5v5,+/-,Save%, team goal differential, yada yada yada. Kids are expected to struggle, it's the all too familiar on again off again veteran support on this club. Pin the tail on those donkeys.

The kids are all right.....

It's way too early to say definitively but Yakupov was the consensus pick and I remember most fans wanted to draft him. I like Galchenyuk too but it would be difficult to take somebody who played so few games in his draft year 1st overall. There were some people in the Murray camp and his injury is unfortunate but his ceiling is much lower than Yak's anyways. Hindsight being what it is, people will question this decision from time to time but Yak was the best prospect back then and still seems like the best prospect in that draft today.

Murray will be Chris Phillips without the (very slight) physicality. No doubter to take Yak, although Galchenyuk has the benefit of being a natural center. Yak will be a beast in a few years

I wanted Galchenyuk and still do! I get the whole BPA thing, but why not BPA based on organizational need. Why does it have to be one or the other?

Hahahahaha..... I would prop this to infinity if the interwebz would let me

i notice that Meuller is obviously a better player than Stamkos and I would take him on my team over "Stamkos the Bust"™ every day.

EVERY DAY! YOUR LOGIC IS SOUND!

Extrapolating from a small sample size can be dangerous, DSF. For example, Yak was +2 last night in Colorado. Assuming he has turned the corner on his defensive play, and thus projecting last nights performance over the rest of the season, that translates to a +/- of +33, or over an 82 game season, +101. Real meaningful. As meaningful as your projections.

Has this site really come down to a debate about Yakupov versus Mueller? Really?

And I thought the Gagner rumors were bad...

Yeah Yakupov with his Brett Hall shot and Mike Modano is just killing it.

Since Huberdeau has more points than both, I guess the argument is settled.

Oh, I think comparing rookie seasons gives us a little bit of insight.

While the sample size is small it can help to illustrate that things can go up (Stamkos) or down (Mueller) in subsequent years.

Was Yakupov the right choice?

Maybe, although if its' at all close you should always pick a centre over a winger.

Yakupov certainly hasn't done enough thus far to convince me he is better than Galchenyuk.

I think OIlers should have been drafting for need last year. It's not like Crosby was an option on the podium.The need was a center and defense , but they took BPA, because someone else made the pick for them ! Not eash to acquire a stud ctr, or d- man.

End of the day the bottom line is just that the consensus of NHL scouts as a collective is that Yak was and still is the best.

Maybe you are smarter than all NHL scouts.

Anyone know what Stamkos' scoring was over his first 26 games? I seem to remember him having a wicked second half...

These comparisons are useless so early into someone's career. Yak's career could be like that of a Kovalchuk, or a Yashin or anywhere in between. We don't know. All we know is that the kid competes extremely hard, has a wicked shot, and can't play defense.

Jeff Skinner had a better stats his rookie season than Stamkos or Tavares did in theirs. Does that mean he's the better long term choice?

NHL scouts have been wrong many, many times.

And I assume so have you. It doesn't mean that your opinion is invalid. In fact, if scores of people with your penchant for stats and critical thinking came to a consensus I'd be inclined to listen to it.

Yes I have.

But, when a draft pick is being lionized while others are outperforming him is a little daft.

Early days to be sure but I doubt Yakupov will be a more valuable player than Galchenyuk.

The Oilers had to pick Yak. He broke Stamko's rookie scoring records with Sarnia. He may have been older when he did it, but still. Also, the Oilers could sse what he could without Gally. They didn't get a good look at Gally without Yak or Gally in his draft eligibilty year at all.

We armchair scouts have no skin in the game, if we did, we likely would have pushed Yak.

Apparently the Oiler scouts wanted to pick Ryan Murray but were over ruled by Katz.

What does that tell you?

Yak will rule. If you disagree I will punch you in the internet balls.

Where's you evidence for this?

You have MacGregor, Musil, Hawley and I can’t remember the other one all pick Yakupov. That’s half the scouting staff.

You have Mac-T telling a room full of media people prior to the draft that you need to score goals to win?

Then Katz just walks in the meeting and over rules who exactly? Please.

@DSF, On Oil Change, they showed the scouts going around the room and making their recommendations which was YAK, Could have been staged I guess but...

Sort of like DAF DSF........wrong many, many times

You may be right, but that doesn't mean that it was the wrong pick. (is that an oxymoron?)

What I mean is that on draft day there were dozens and dozens of experienced professionals with the tools to analyse player performance. Most of them pegged Yakupov as the top available candidate. Many admitted that Galchenyuk was probably on the same level, but that it is hard to have that kind of confidence in a player who missed so much of such an important development year. Yak was closer to a sure thing. A known entity.

The choice, I imagine, came down to positional need vs. "sure thing". They chose the more proven player. Fine with me. If Yak busts, or Galchenyuk goes super-galactic I'll be annoyed and pissed off, but will try to remember that I, along with most of the hockey world were behind Yak as the first overall pick.

Of all things, this is not one I will choose to fault management for.