Can We Now Call Yakupov the Worst Forward Ever Drafted First Overall?

[CantHaveTkachev]

There's a caveat...

1. He was drafted by the Oilers.
2. The Oilers are an absolutely horrendous team at development for the players that severely require it.
3. He was rushed to the NHL
4. When it was clear he needed more development time, the damage was already showing.
5. He, himself, was never a terrible pick, the circumstances in which turned him into one, was.

he had a good rookie season under Ralph Krueger and he looked like a player

then Dallas Eakins was hired..subsequently ruined him and his confidence by healthy scratching him in like the 3rd game

nice guy, low hockey IQ

 

[Thenameless]

That's a fair point, but remember there was a big "fail for Nail" campaign that year. That's maybe an unfair comparison because of the difference in (social) media compared to Daigle's era, but even though Yak was the lesser regarded prospect he probably had more actual hype coming into the league.

No. Even with the advent of the internet and social media, Yakupov's hype couldn't match the hype around Daigle. He was guaranteed to be the next Gretzky/Lemieux/Lindros on draft day and beyond. It was absolutely nuts. Just have a look at the trade offers being made to Ottawa for the rights to draft Daigle. Teams were willing to give up the farm to get him. Of course, Daigle himself added more fuel with his "no one remembers number two" comment.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

No. Even with the advent of the internet and social media, Yakupov's hype couldn't match the hype around Daigle. He was guaranteed to be the next Gretzky/Lemieux/Lindros on draft day and beyond. It was absolutely nuts. Just have a look at the trade offers being made to Ottawa for the rights to draft Daigle. Teams were willing to give up the farm to get him. Of course, Daigle himself added more fuel with his "no one remembers number two" comment.

yup, Yak is still better than Daigle and Stefan

 

[57special]

Wickenheiser's deal was that he had an awful knee injury(s) right away, before there was arthroscopic surgery. We'll never know how good he might've been.

Grundman still sucks, though.

 

[NewtJorden]

I still think Patrik Stefan is the ultimate worst first overall pick.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I used to be a BIG believer in Stefan being the bigger bust, but now looking at it, *where* did the label come from? Unless scouting reports in the late 90's suggested that he would be a premier first line two-way forward? He was a 20-40 point player on the lowly Thrashers and still gets flak on a fluky goal that nobody would have seen coming.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I used to be a BIG believer in Stefan being the bigger bust, but now looking at it, *where* did the label come from? Unless scouting reports in the late 90's suggested that he would be a premier first line two-way forward? He was a 20-40 point player on the lowly Thrashers and still gets flak on a fluky goal that nobody would have seen coming.

ummm, from being a #1 overall pick who never hit .5 ppg in any season, and never topped 14 goals before being out of the league by 26.

here's some of the assessments of Stefan pre draft

“He is a big, strong play-maker who sees the ice very well,” said John Van Boxmeer, coach of the Ice Dogs. “The early consensus from scouts is that he could be the first overall pick next year in the NHL Entry Draft.”

“He is going to be a dominating, play-making center,” Van Boxmeer said of the 6-foot-3 195 pounder. “He is a guy who looks to make the play rather than shoot himself. He’ll be a guy who can get 100 assists and 20-25 goals in the NHL.”

“Patrik is a world-class player,” said LA Kings General Manage Dave Taylor. “He is a good skater, a tenacious player, very skilled with the puck and possesses excellent size, strength and work ethic.”

“I have followed Patrik’s progress since December of 1995. The impression he left with me then and throughout the various tournaments I have seen him play, is that he is the brightest young prospect developed in the Czech Republic since Jaromir Jagr, ” said Bob Owen of RHO Hockey, a scouting agency.

“He is a cross between Mike Modano and Sergei Fedorov,” said coach Boxmeer.

 

[Unspecified]

Man Yakupov is hot garbage but Patrik stefan was just as bad so it's close.

 

[ONO94]

Even with the hype on Stefan--as it turns out, that draft was just plain terrible. Stefan has the 15th most points from that draft class and played the 26th most games. The Sedins were really the only 1st round impact players. Daigle looks bad because Pronger went right behind him and Kariya, Arnott, Bertuzzi and Koivu were also in the first round and there are 15 players from that class that played 1000+ games. Comparatively, Daigle, who scored over 100 more points than Lawton, is 26th in his draft class in points and 33rd in games played. And of course Lawton looks like the worst because he was picked in front of Yzerman, Lafontaine, Neely, McLean and others. And comparatively, Lawton in 30th in points and 42nd in games played for his draft class. So what may save Yakupov from taking the crown as the worst first is the fact that he also comes from a relatively weak draft class and the bigger stars appear to be defensemen. The bigger question may be the Ryan Murray pick at #2--he is behind 6 other 1st round d-men in games played and 6 other 1st round d-men in points.

 

[Fantomas]

He has the hockey skill but doesn't have hockey IQ. He doesn't know where to go on the ice. He has no clue on how to play an nhl systems. Also It didn't helped when Oilers rushed him in the nhl.

Maybe they did, but Yakupov had by far his best season in his rookie year. He was actually pretty good.

 

[Fantomas]

No. Diagle is worse.

Daigle was actually quite good in a couple of seasons. Particularly in 03-04 with the Wild. Wasn't engaged enough to keep it up.

 

[GOilers88]

He's going to be a major disappointment but his pre-draft hype was unreal. I still think he got ruined to an extent in Edmonton, he had a lot of talent but needed better guidance.

There's no way Edmonton ruined him. If an athlete has the drive, skill,and motivation to succeed, they will eventually succeed. He's been through three different organizations since he was drafted. He's still only 24 years old. If he has been unable to figure things out to this point, that is entirely on him and no one else.

 

[lomiller1]

No. Even with the advent of the internet and social media, Yakupov's hype couldn't match the hype around Daigle. He was guaranteed to be the next Gretzky/Lemieux/Lindros on draft day and beyond. It was absolutely nuts. Just have a look at the trade offers being made to Ottawa for the rights to draft Daigle. Teams were willing to give up the farm to get him. Of course, Daigle himself added more fuel with his "no one remembers number two" comment.

In today's terms it would be like McDavid busting. That's how highly Daigle was regarded at the draft.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

he had a good rookie season under Ralph Krueger and he looked like a player

then Dallas Eakins was hired..subsequently ruined him and his confidence by healthy scratching him in like the 3rd game

nice guy, low hockey IQ

He had a 21.7 shooting percentage his rookie season and hasn't even hit the 10% mark since. His rookie season was a fluke made possible by a lockout shortened-season.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I removed the 20-post diversion on where Morgan Reilly would go in a redraft today.

In the future, you'll find that the title of the thread will generally give you a pretty good idea of what the topic is supposed to be.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

I used to be a BIG believer in Stefan being the bigger bust, but now looking at it, *where* did the label come from? Unless scouting reports in the late 90's suggested that he would be a premier first line two-way forward? He was a 20-40 point player on the lowly Thrashers and still gets flak on a fluky goal that nobody would have seen coming.

How is 20-40 points good for a 1st overall pick? Also the Thrashers were terrible because of their defense/goaltending. They actually scored a fair amount of goals. In his last three seasons with Atlanta they were 6th, 13th and 10th in the league in goals scored.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

ummm, from being a #1 overall pick who never hit .5 ppg in any season, and never topped 14 goals before being out of the league by 26

The draft from 99 was the weakest one we’ve seen in a long time. He was about to hit his peak with the Thrashers and then it never became to be

 

[cptjeff]

How is 20-40 points good for a 1st overall pick?

Well, Marc Andre Fleury never came close to a 20 goal season now, did he?

 

[Skolman]

Yes

 

[Atas2000]

Worst handled 1OA prospect ever maybe.

 

[winnipegger]

Worst handled 1OA prospect ever maybe.

No team was going to make a 1st overall out of Yakupov. His brain isn't good enough unfortunately.

 

[poolparty98]

Always a crapshoot at number 1 usually a consensus pick that teams have to take. Sometimes you get lucky and get a Crosby or Mcdavid. Sometimes you get burnt and geta Yakupov or Stephan. Most times you get a decent pick like guys like Nuge or Matthews type.

 

[Atas2000]

No team was going to make a 1st overall out of Yakupov. His brain isn't good enough unfortunately.

That is what people think because his development was destroyed by the Oilers. His only stupidity is to not understand that and look for options.

 

[boredmale]

Well at least he isn't Greg Joly

 

[Senor Catface]

That is what people think because his development was destroyed by the Oilers. His only stupidity is to not understand that and look for options.

No, he's right and you're wrong.

No NHL team could make him a player.

Sometimes it just doesn't work.