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BACK IN THE USSR
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Lowetide
Jul 27, 2016, 19:46 EDTUpdated:
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Bogdan Yakimov will stay in Russia for 2016-17, and that news is a sobering reminder that players who bolt the North American team during a season are rarely given a second chance.
Yakimov is off to HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, and there is a good chance we won’t see him again in an Oilers uniform. His one NHL game took place in his first season in North America, and it appears the young man prefers the KHL to the AHL-NHL shuttle.

BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

This is via the AHL website, showing the late December transactions between Edmonton and other pro teams across the hockey world. Yakimov bolted, and despite coming back later in the season, will not (it appears) make the Atlantic crossing this fall.

YAKIMOV VERSUS PROSPECT CENTERS IN BAKERSFIELD

Yakimov trailed Jujhar Khaira last season among prospects centers in Bakersfield, and his year over year totals were not encouraging based on AHL boxcars.
  • 2014-15: 57gp, 12-16-28 .491
  • 2015-16: 36gp, 5-10-15 .417
It is difficult to see progress in the numbers above, and the trip to the KHL last season was likely the final straw.
  • Gerry Fleming at the time of Yak 2.0’s leaving: “He felt it was a chance or an opportunity to make
    the national team (for the World Championship) so he went back. It was
    unfortunate for us to lose him but he felt he needed to go back to give
    himself the best opportunity.”     Source

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

There are two things worth pointing out here:
  • NHL teams seldom forgive this sort of thing. You may recall Toni Rajala getting cut without bolting (he made a request, Edmonton put him on waivers and bought him out, August 2013)—he had requested the opportunity to play in Finland for 2013-14.
  • Peter Chiarelli has no connection to Yakimov via the draft. History teaches us that NHL general managers are loyal to their own picks, but do not have that kind of connection to players drafted before their arrival.
My guess? He is gone and he won’t be back. If Yakimov does appear in an Oilers uniform again, suspect he will have performed incredibly well in the KHL.
(Photo by Mark Williams)
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