Those were the first words Nail Yakupov said to Gene Principe when discussing his trade to St.Louis. His trade was not a surprise, considering he had asked for one eight months ago, and it was time for him and the Oilers to part ways.

Both the Oilers and Yakupov are responsible for this partnership ending sooner than most expected when he was drafted first overall in June of 2012.

Yakupov’s most productive NHL season was his first. He had 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games. In his next 204 games he only  scored 33 goals and 80 points.

What went wrong?

Many factors unfolded for him to be dealt for a only a third round draft pick (which could become a second if he scores 15 goals this season) and a long-shot prospect.

He and Dallas Eakins didn’t work well together. It wasn’t for lack of trying from the coach. He had numerous one-on-one meetings with Yakupov, but it didn’t work. Clearly Eakins didn’t deliver his message the right way. Every player needs to be spoken to differently. Maybe some of the conversation was lost in translation. We will never know. But Yakupov did not improve in years two or the first half of year three. He did finish strong playing with Derek Roy in the final 30 games and it looked like he was progressing.

When Todd McLellan came in last season, it was a new start for Yakupov. He, like every other player, had a new coach and new opportunities to impress him. It didn’t happen, and this is where I believe Yakupov shoulder’s some of the blame.

He was upset when he wasn’t on Connor McDavid’s wing after the phenom returned from his injury. Players all want to play more and play with certain players, but you can’t show that frustration. McLellan mentioned this last season and then a few weeks later Yakupov’s agent, Igor Larionov, asked for a trade.

I believe it is fair if people question how Yakupov was handled under Eakins and how that impacted his game, but I don’t buy the notion McLellan had anything against him or wanted him to fail. 

If you look at Yakupov’s TOI/game in each of his four seasons it is basically the same. He played 14:13 this past season, 15:26 in 2015, 14:18 in 2014 and 14:33 in 2013.

His most common linemates were mainly offensive-minded players. His minutes with each are here, and the top-13 forwards he played with in his four years in Edmonnton are as follows: Gagner, Roy, RNH, Purcell, Eberle, Pouliot, Arcobello, Perron, Hemsky, Hall, Draisaitl, Letestu and McDavid.

Yakupov did recover and had some offensive success under Todd Nelson for a short time, but he struggled after the first 13 games of last season when McDavid was injured. The tough reality of the NHL and all pro sports is the much of the onus to improve falls on the player.

Players have to put in the time in the weight room, on the ice stickhandling and skating, and then in the video room ensuring they know the system and improving how they see the ice.

Griffin Reinhart was sent to the minors because he has not improved the weaknesses in his game yet. The team can show him video on the shortcomings and work with him, but he needs to get quicker and stronger. It is up to him to do it. If he doesn’t, he won’t play.

Yakupov’s conditioning was never an issue. He worked hard in the gym. There were never any concerns there. The elements of his game that didn’t improve in the eyes of his coaches was his play away from the puck.

Yakupov has been given a new chance to thrive in the NHL. It will be up to him to produce. Ken Hitchcock is a very demanding coach, but he’s also dealt with hundreds of players. Knowing Hitchcock he will sit down with Yakupov and tell him he doesn’t care about the past. He will tell him what he likes about his game. He’s quick. He has a good shot. He’s competitive. And he for sure tell him he needs to be responsible away from the puck. If he does then he’ll play. Hitchcock will almost surely tell him it doesn’t matter who you play with. If you play well you will earn more ice time.

I asked GM Peter Chiarelli why he believes things didn’t work out here for Yakupov.

“I don’t know if it is fair of me to comment on why it didn’t work out by looking at only one year,”  he said. “He’s a young player who has skill and talent. From what I saw from the year before to this past year is I thought his game diluted. He wasn’t playing to his strengths. There are other areas of his game that can improve and need to improve, but we decided Nail deserved a fresh start,” said Chiarelli.

What stands out in this quote is Chiarelli saying he didn’t play to his strengths. That is an obvious case of lost confidence. Confidence plays a huge part in the game and if a player doesn’t have it, it is extremely difficult to play well. Even the best players in the game lose their confidence.

It was obvious Yakupov had lost his. He was frustrated, which is understandable considering he’d been a big-time scorer at every level before the NHL. He started over handling the puck and watching him you could tell he wasn’t having much fun.

This trade will be good for him. I’m sure he’ll feel like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, and he’ll be very motivated to show he’s a much better player. Can he do it, is the main question. I think he could be a decent NHL player, but I don’t see him becoming a dominant player. I wish him well. I always enjoyed talking with Yakupov. He usually had a big smile on his face, although in the past eight months you could see he wasn’t as jovial as before. 

I liked when he played with his greasy edge. Not backing down from Dustin Byfuglien or anyone else was great. His passion after scoring the tying goal against the Kings was fantastic, even though his fun-sponge teammate Eric Belanger didn’t like it.

The reality was Yakupov’s shining moments didn’t occur as often as he or the Oilers would have liked. Both sides can shoulder some of the blame and it ends a four-year tenure that did not produce the highlights or fireworks that Yakupov, the Oilers and the fans had hoped for when he was drafted first overall.

 

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