Alexei Yashin

[Eye of Ra]

What are you guys memories of this player? What kind of impact did he have on the ice? Was it true he was lazy?

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[bicboi64]

I was too young to remember the off ice stuff. Reading up the history shows me that you had a situation where an organization treated someone like shit, and the player didn't have the character to deal with it in a healthy way either. Was a back and forth of bull shit between two sides with Yashin appearing more of a negative towards the end.

I became a fan as a 7 year old when he scored 40g and was a fan...next season he was traded so I never really had too much attachment.

 

[Ouroboros]

The most loved Senator of all-time.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

He was really good . Created a contract dispute that soured almost everyone on him.
Very talented player although soft in the playoffs imo.

 

[BoardsofCanada]

He had an existing deal and sat out because he felt he was worth more money. Really bush league move imo. I never thought he was lazy. He was a big offensive center with a great shot. Didn't get very involved in his own end. Was always looking to create a scoring play. Pierre Luc Dubois might be a comparable player today.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Austin Matthews lite. Big frame, phenomenal hands, ridiculous shot. Less physical than he ought to have been, and less effective come playoff time. That said, his game would have translated real well into todays game absent of clutching and grabbing.

 

[Daffy]

Loved Yashin. Absolute stud. First superstar Sens ever had. Made a few mistakes off the ice with some bad advice, but he was a really nice guy. I remember at KRC as a kid, and Yashin was the only player to stay until every kid got an autograph. Will always have fond memories of him.

And he had a few duds in the playoffs for sure. Mostly against the Leafs. But he had some really productive playoff series as well. Earlier on in his career.

 

[Samboni]

IIRC, Yashin didn’t know a lot about the NHL and, in my opinion, relied heavily on his agent to guide him through the transition to North America.

In my view he was a tremendously talented player who wasn’t prepared or completely comfortable playing in the NHL and the grind that comes with it. Yasmin’s fall from favour in Ottawa was largely a result of his agent and the fact that he could step up in big games,

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I think he would probably excel now, but I remember him being a ghost in the playoffs when it was allowed to basically have a player like Shayne Corson shadow him the whole game with clutching and grabbing. His production in those playoffs doesn't look awful in hindsight, but that's how I remember it.

We sure got off that pot at the right time. One of the best trades in franchise history getting Spezza, Chara and Muckalt for him.

 

[JD1]

Those were the early days of Russians in the NHL.

His agent, Mark Gandler, was a scumbag. Naive, young Yashin received a lot of bad advice. Could have been an all time great in Ottawa.

But we got Spezza and Chara when we traded him so it worked out in the end

 

[Tap on the Ankle]

My main memory is him being the team's first true star, critical player for the franchise when initially establishing itself for the late 90s-late 00s stretch of very good Sens teams. Just highly skilled all-around center

As one of the early guys to come over during the USSR collapse he was part of more closed community so he had a Russian agent who himself wasn't experienced in the NHL/North America business. So Yashin received poor advice and held out while under active contract (which was and still is unheard of), became a pariah here in Ottawa. The team lucked out in the return, getting Spezza and Chara.

I vaguely recall an incident where he offered to donate money to the NAC (a public art institation) or something, but wanted his mother (or was it girlfriend?) to receive a highly paid job in return (worth more than the donation after a few years). Not sure the details of it, maybe someone else can elaborate. Don't think he was necessarily a bad guy, he may have been naive about how things are done here.

 

[Que]

I got an Alexi Yashin fridge magnet out of a box of Kraft Dinner.

 

[Alfie11]

Terrific skill. Bomb of a shot. Size.

No extra gear for the playoffs.

 

[Daffy]

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

I was a little too young to remember Yashin - the closest I can really recall is the series in 2003 against the Islanders where the history was played up.

Looking back now, over twenty years later and at the age I am now, it's easy to forget just how young Yashin was when all of that unpleasantness went down. Not that it excuses it or anything, but the dude was what - 25/26 when things came to a head?

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Probably the most talented player we've ever had. But also a bit of a headcase. But, he is also a product of his time, where quid pro quo was an everyday thing back in Russia. He had a pretty big culture shock with his dealings with the NAC and his parents didn't help matters either. I forget the name of his agent, but he was a real slimeball, too.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Amazing, amazing stickhandler.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Amazingly skilled player. Big and strong, could dangle, could shoot. Had a hard time finding that extra gear in the playoffs and not much of a team player.

Still probably the best center the team has ever had. Hopefully stutzle changes that.

 

[Hutz]

Loved Yashin. Absolute stud. First superstar Sens ever had. Made a few mistakes off the ice with some bad advice, but he was a really nice guy. I remember at KRC as a kid, and Yashin was the only player to stay until every kid got an autograph. Will always have fond memories of him.

And he had a few duds in the playoffs for sure. Mostly against the Leafs. But he had some really productive playoff series as well. Earlier on in his career.

I had the same exact experience. Class act. He was the first guy out and the last to leave after the Sens skill competition I went to. It was a stark contrast with the other star Alex who was last out and first gone.

 

[GCK]

Good guy, remember meeting him a few times at the Elgin St Diner after the bars. Very talented player that didn’t seem to have the compete level to fight through the clutch and grab playoff hockey. He is definitely a guy that had other interests outside hockey.

Also he had the best turtleneck game in history.

 

[dumbdick]

I just really hope Joseph turns out well so we can officially win that Yashin trade.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Don’t think Yasmin ever completed an NHL contract from beginning to end, always disputed or demanded renegotiations

 

[ottawah]

A bit like Tarasenko perhaps. He was not really fleet of foot although decently agile. Used his body exceptionally well to protect the puck, very strong on the puck. He had a great shot and nose for the net, but as a center he was not a strong puck distributor, he never really made those around him better. Ottawa was perennially searching for a winger that could work with him. Thats why he has the playoff rep he has, when the game got harder and more close checking he was not as effective, when the whistles went in the pocket in the playoffs, they made it too hard on him. And his inability to use his wingers to their potential meant teams could lay down on him even more. His goal to assist ratio had to be one of the highest in league history for a center. All in all a great center to have during the clutch and grab era when size predicated speed, and if he would have been a better puck distributor, he could have made some of the clutch and grab go away.

His real failing though was his agent. Teams soon stopped even looking at players Gandler represented. Yashin demanded a new contract renegotiation 3 times in 5 years, sat out the start of the 95 season with a valid contract and sat out a whole other year with a valid contract. He also seemed very put out that he was not given what he considered his due. He did not enjoy having Daigle promoted above him in team marketing, and by the time Daigle flamed out, Alfredsson had stepped in as the face of the team. None of this sat very well with Yashin. And then he made a big splash with a huge donation to the local arts center, only to have it all backfire when it was found that half the money was to be returned to his parents as consulting fees.

All in all he came off as a very spoiled brat, but personally never saw it as quite like that. Combination of very confident, some cultural differences (he grew up in Soviet USSR, not the Russia of today), and relying on an agent that was despised around the league (for good reason). It turned into a bad combination.

 

[Wondercarrot]

Austin Matthews lite. Big frame, phenomenal hands, ridiculous shot. Less physical than he ought to have been, and less effective come playoff time. That said, his game would have translated real well into todays game absent of clutching and grabbing.

He was an early 90’s version of Matthews.
6’4” 230 lbs
Laser shot
In ‘98 Finished 3rd in Hart Voting
3rd in points
2nd in goals

Then held out on an active contract and didn’t play the next year lol
Great in the O-zone, could (and did) drag multiple players on his back and still make plays everywhere.
On the backcheck he somehow became 33% slower and 50% more exhausted.

Nice guy in person, and a total idiot when it came to his contracts most likely due to his loser agent Mark Gandler who also concocted the ridiculous NAC donation/job fiasco.

He got owned in the playoffs and began many years of people calling Ottawa chokers with no heart, and many years of people overrating the leafs playoff “heart”
All in all an extraordinarily frustrating guy.

 

[PlayersLtd]

The team had a deal in place whereby if he scored X number of points they would renegotiate his contract. He came up 2 points shy and felt that was 'close enough' and when the team rightfully stood their ground he opted to hold out for an entire season. It went to a mediator and he lost and as a result owed us that season. It was a really bad move on his part and the SENS really weren't at fault for anything other than some statements that helped to turn the city against him.

Then he pulled a $1M donation he had promised to the National Arts Centre a couple days before he was set to be guest of honour at their annual fundraiser. This was the final nail in the court of public opinion and for good reason became public enemy number one and was run out of town. Cue Mike Milbury and his brilliance as a GM in NYI.

On ice he was an unbelievable player and a big part of this teams history, probably enshrined in the all time roster but not remotely a winner mainly due to not being much of a team guy and some effort issues iirc.