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Getting the Most Out of Nail Yakupov
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Jonathan Willis
Sep 23, 2016, 21:18 EDTUpdated:
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Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli and head
coach Todd McLellan wasted no time getting back from the World Cup, rushing
back to Alberta to oversee their NHL team’s training camp.
Both were asked on their first day back about what’s
expected of Nail Yakupov this season, and both were largely supportive of the
2012 first overall pick.

Peter Chiarelli

Asked what he expected from Yakupov after a tough season,
Chiarelli offered a candid but complimentary comment on the player’s character
and ability:
He’s got that level of grit in his persona, and I would
expect [improvement]. It wasn’t a good year for him. We had a pretty pointed
exit meeting, and I’m sure we’ll have a couple of meetings here leading into
the start of the year. He’s got skill and talent and can shoot the puck, and he’s
still young. I know he’s a proud guy, and I would expect him to dig in.
On the candid side of the answer, Chiarelli acknowledged that
the previous season hadn’t been a good one for Yakupov, and obviously that in the
exit meeting the team’s staff had underlined both that fact and what they
expected to be done about it to the player.
Yet, even as he referenced the struggles of 2015-16,
Chiarelli was careful not to run the player down. Twice he referenced positive
character traits, praising the pride Yakupov takes in his performance and
describing him as having grit. He emphasized the player’s talent level and
ability to shoot the puck.
Chiarelli also mentioned age, and it’s a good idea to
underline that sometimes. It’s easy to forget how young players are after they’ve
been in the NHL a few years, but Yakupov is only 22 today. He’s from the same
draft class as, among others, Jujhar Khaira. The difference is that Khaira’s
been developing largely out of the eyes of fans in Edmonton, while Yakupov’s
growing pains have encompassed 252 NHL games so far.
It is of course reasonable to expect faster development from
a first overall pick than from a third-rounder, but at this point it seems
fairly clear that Yakupov isn’t going to enjoy the typical career of a first
overall. That doesn’t mean he can’t help a major-league club in some lesser
capacity at some point.
Absent from Chiarelli’s response is any hint of whether
Yakupov will play out the 2016-17 season with the Oilers. A general manager
being supportive of a struggling player who is still in the long-term plans
sounds much the same as a general manager trying not to further reduce the
value of a trade asset.

Todd McLellan

McLellan, the man who will be tasked with getting the most
out of the player, was decidedly upbeat in his take on the player:
“We’re going to put last year behind us … Yak this is the
first time, second time I’ve been able to run into him, and he’s a tremendous
player. He’s got an incredible skill set. He’s got a great shot. It’s putting
it all together and being productive. Everybody that’s involved in this
organization, players, coaching staff and Yak, have to work hard to get him to
where we think we can. He’ll do that; we’ll help him.”
The response being so positive is worth noting, particularly
since the question McLellan was asked specifically frame his expectations for
this year against the disappointment of 2015-16. McLellan casually brushed that
comparison aside in favour of focusing on the future. It’s a good way to answer
the question; I imagine it’s a better way to coach.
Jason Gregor noted in his
training camp piece earlier today that Yakupov was playing in training camp
with Patrick Maroon and Anton Lander, a decision which adds credibility to
McLellan’s words. With most of the team’s centres still unavailable, Yakupov
gets one of the two guys who played that position in the NHL last year down the
middle (the other option was Letestu, and those two did not mesh last season).
He also gets a proven NHL winger in Maroon, who apparently lost 25 pounds in
the offseason.
That puts Yakupov in a better spot coming out the gate than
Zack Kassian, Kris Versteeg or Iiro Pakarinen.
Gregor suggested that the message from coach to player is that he can win that job, and that fits with the comment that the staff, players and organization as a whole would do what it could to support Yakupov. If Yakupov performs well in camp, it’s easy to imagine Leon Draisaitl replacing Lander on that line for Game 1 of the regular season.
That would be optimal deployment (well, short of playing with Connor McDavid) from a personal standpoint for Yakupov. He’d be playing with established players, players capable of scoring, and on a line that likely wouldn’t be facing the same level as competition as the top two even-strength trios.
It’s September, which means that hope and optimism have yet
to give way to the grind of the regular season and the disillusionment that so
often accompanies it. It does feel like Yakupov’s going to get a chance here,
though, and he could do his career and the Oilers a world of good by making the
most of it. 

RECENTLY BY JONATHAN WILLIS

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