More disappointing -- Yakupov or Schultz?

[Spawn]

lol i'm not
I was just embedding a stereotype; when he says he chilled with his buddies the whole summer, being in Russia, having money and being 21 years old, I assume he's experimenting with wetting the beak on summer days

I wouldn't be so sure considering his religion. But regardless of his beliefs/usage of alcohol, Yakupov was one of the first people to arrive in Edmonton this year to get ready for the season. He spent a large part of the summer here training and working.

Hard work has never been close to Yakupov's problem imo. I'd never question his work ethic. He just doesn't know how/where to direct that work. It's the same case on the ice in games. The hockey IQ just seems to be lagging so far behind the rest of his tools.

 

[pox]

Schultz.

A lot of the blame on Yak can go to this joke of an organization.

yah this sums it up nicely

 

[ponokanocker]

Schultz. He doesn't even deserve to be in the lineup. He has zero hockey sense in his own zone.

 

[Mr Positive]

The fact that we can't get a decent partner for Schultz has impeded him a lot. His partners have been guys like Ference, Larsen, Hunt, Nikitin, and Belov. I know people bash Schultz a lot, but imo he's a better player than all of those guys, and a young player really ought to be playing with someone better than himself if he's going to tread water and learn something.

Yakupov hasn't been given a lot of leash but he hasn't show us a whole lot either. Even in that productive first season, he was quite cold for most of it with a really hot month at the end. That's what I don't get about the general fan preference for Yak vs Eberle. Eberle is a bit streaky too but much less so and he's produced at every stage of his career.

 

[Lacaar]

Tough but went Yakupov.

The game of hockey is beyond him.

Way beyond him.

Justin is just a wussy.

I guess it's easier to grow balls then a brain.

So Yakupov

 

[sepHF]

Yakupov is a first overall pick, its not close.

 

[Tom Brady]

Yakupov is a first overall pick, its not close.

It's mind boggling that some people voted for Schultz.

Yakupov was supposed to be a 40/50 goal score and he looks like a bust so far. it's been 15/16 long years since a 1st overall pick has looked this brutal.

Bottom line, we used a 1st overall pick for Yakupov, at least Schultz was free.

 

[sepHF]

Yak desperately needs to get things going... what an awful year for him so far.

He's been working his ass off but he has to produce.

 

[oobga]

Yak looks like an offensively talented player with zero confidence that learned how to play in his own zone from a terrible coach.

Can't quite put my finger on how that would have happened...

Honestly though, we all give Yak credit for working on D, but we have to remember he was learning it from one of the worst coaches the NHL has ever seen. Eakins' idea of good D is not that good and results in next to no chances going in the other direction. Yak ran into Eakins far too early in his career. Our other kids got 2+ years of decent coaching before their regression under that goof.

 

[0ilerman]

yakupov is getting dangerously close to 'bust' status and it's hard to find any positives in his game. No confidence from his coach, no chemistry with any teammates, no overwhelming physical attributes that make him stand out

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I wouldn't be so sure considering his religion. But regardless of his beliefs/usage of alcohol, Yakupov was one of the first people to arrive in Edmonton this year to get ready for the season. He spent a large part of the summer here training and working.

Hard work has never been close to Yakupov's problem imo. I'd never question his work ethic. He just doesn't know how/where to direct that work. It's the same case on the ice in games. The hockey IQ just seems to be lagging so far behind the rest of his tools.

I agree that hockey IQ is the main thing holding him back at this point, he just doesn't have much of a feel for how the play is developing. Him shanking so many shots also doesn't help get him the powerplay time that he should be cashing in on.

yakupov is getting dangerously close to 'bust' status and it's hard to find any positives in his game. No confidence from his coach, no chemistry with any teammates, no overwhelming physical attributes that make him stand out

The term bust gets thrown around far too much, I think it should only be reserved for players of high expectations who are flat out not good enough to play in the NHL, Yakupov is flirting with being a major disappointment. Somewhere along the lines of a Frolik or a Benoit Pouliot, I have trouble seeing a player who works as hard as him, with his skill package not being able to hollow himself out atleast some niche in this league.

The thing about having Nelson here is he seems to be good at distilling the major strength in a players game and getting them to build a core foundation around that. Most players haven't bloomed much past that point, but Nail should be able to find his core competency that he does well and can contribute to the team on a nightly basis. I still believe Yak can score in this league and I think we will get a 25 goal season out of him, but he seems to ride the emotional highs and lows too much to be a dependable goal scoring threat.

 

[Slicknitty]

Our ****** organization ruined both of these guys. I honestly can't believe we have 3 first overalls on this team because there's only one that actually plays like a first overall and another who is looking like a borderline bust. This is beyond sad. **** this team, man, I swear to god, **** it. Everyone has been mishandled.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I bet he turns into a 30+ goal scorer in Detroit.


I suggest we send him over there as a test to see if the problem is in our development.

(Yes it is).

 

[oobga]

Yak's biggest mistake was doing too much of what Eakins asked of him. The more you followed Eakins on X's and O's stuff, the worse of a player you were going to be. Eakins' attempt to "Kadri" Yak put Yak ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the team of playing a broken useless style of hockey. Where the rest of the team was, when Eakins left with 1 player in the top 100 of NHL scoring, Yak was there from game 1 this year eager to please Eakins. And he did please Eakins. Eakins was plenty happy with Yak this season which makes it all even more sad.

Yak needs a heck of a lot of coaching (good coaching I mean. He's also the type of player that can be ruined by bad coaching). Krueger spent crazy amounts of time on Yak in 12-13 and it was starting to pay off. Just never got the chance to continue with it unfortunately.

 

[Halibut]

The term bust gets thrown around far too much, I think it should only be reserved for players of high expectations who are flat out not good enough to play in the NHL, Yakupov is flirting with being a major disappointment. Somewhere along the lines of a Frolik or a Benoit Pouliot, I have trouble seeing a player who works as hard as him, with his skill package not being able to hollow himself out atleast some niche in this league.

The thing about having Nelson here is he seems to be good at distilling the major strength in a players game and getting them to build a core foundation around that. Most players haven't bloomed much past that point, but Nail should be able to find his core competency that he does well and can contribute to the team on a nightly basis. I still believe Yak can score in this league and I think we will get a 25 goal season out of him, but he seems to ride the emotional highs and lows too much to be a dependable goal scoring threat.

I think people are right when they say he's getting dangerously close to that. Sure once he leaves here he'll get a shot with one or two teams but if he doesnt outproduce the numbers he's putting up here he'll be out of the league in a few years. There are to many holes in his game defensively and not enough other elements to his game that will keep him in the league if he doesnt score.

I think you are right that he can score in this league and with the right team he could still do it. That wont be the Oilers, there is just no way it happens he's gone this summer. If he gets traded and still fails to score then he's a bust and he'll be out of the league before he's 25.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Sorry for beating this drum:

Read opinions on Marcus Naslund's stay in Pittsburgh:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=852768

Read this interview Naslund said about his experience in Vancouver:
http://www.puckreport.com/2009/11/markus-naslund-interview-in.html

:/


I fully expect Yakupov to flourish once he gains some confidence with a new team, a new team, in a new system.

He will no longer be the 'bust' of the group, and no longer be on the 'outside' of the core.

 

[oobga]

Sorry for beating this drum:

Read opinions on Marcus Naslund's stay in Pittsburgh:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=852768

Read this interview Naslund said about his experience in Vancouver:
http://www.puckreport.com/2009/11/markus-naslund-interview-in.html

:/


I fully expect Yakupov to flourish once he gains some confidence with a new team, a new team, in a new system.

He will no longer be the 'bust' of the group, and no longer be on the 'outside' of the core.

Interesting. Naslund drafted in 1991. He didn't really do a thing in the NHL until his 3rd season in 95-96 (that's 2 years away still on Yak's timeline) and that was with ice time playing with Lemieux. He went on to have a bunch of mediocre seasons in Vancouver before finally breaking out. I didn't know that about him. Thanks for posting that.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Gonna have to go with schultz. If yakupov scored even semi regularly ge would be everyones favorite player. If schultz scores regularly he's still a worthless tit of a player.

 

[Arpeggio]

It's definitely Yakupov, you simply need to get more out of a first overall pick. If he was playing at the level of Nuge, at least there would be good reason to hope that he could still develop into an elite player. As it stands, he's the worst number one pick (forward) that I've seen (I never watched Stefan play). Literally nothing in his game stands out as elite when I watch him play. He has a good shot, but he can't pick a corner.

All I'm asking is for one instance where he creates an opportunity for himself and finishes. Just one and I'll be back on board with Yak.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

It's definitely Yakupov, you simply need to get more out of a first overall pick. If he was playing at the level of Nuge, at least there would be good reason to hope that he could still develop into an elite player. As it stands, he's the worst number one pick (forward) that I've seen (I never watched Stefan play). Literally nothing in his game stands out as elite when I watch him play. He has a good shot, but he can't pick a corner.

All I'm asking is for one instance where he creates an opportunity for himself and finishes. Just one and I'll be back on board with Yak.

Ask Marcus Naslund what playing on the 3rd/4th line did for his confidence in Pittsburgh.


Yak was trending upwards in his rookie season playing like he was on the top of the world. Lead all rookies in scoring, and finished the season off with a hat trick.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/yakupov-nets-hat-trick-as-oilers-rout-canucks/

Then Eakins decided he wanted the star rookie to be a 3rd line Grinder, that focused on defense first.


Yakupov was playing with 2 rookies last night, in the defensive zone against Seguin/Benn/Spezza, and then was singled out and benched for the rest of the game when the entire line, and defensemen got burned.
In fact, Yak only had 25% of his starts in the Offensive Zone with the offensive blackhole Drai.

Being deployed and coached like that completely shatters all confidence. Especially for young developing immigrants, who have a tough enough time trying to fit in culturally.

 

[Arpeggio]

Ask Marcus Naslund what playing on the 3rd/4th line did for his confidence in Pittsburgh.


You realise Yakupov was playing with Drai last night, in the defensive zone against Seguin/Benn/Spezza, and then was singled out and benched for the rest of the game when the entire line, and defensemen got burned.
In fact, Yak only had 25% of his starts in the Offensive Zone with the offensive blackhole Drai.


Being deployed and coached like that completely shatters all confidence. Especially for young developing immigrants.



He was trending upwards in his rookie season playing like he was on the top of the world. Lead all rookies in scoring, and finished the season off with a hat trick.

Him finishing off that first season strong was nice, but that was a long time ago now.

I'm not saying the Oilers have handled Yakupov well. All I'm saying is that if you put Taylor Hall in the same situation, he'd still show something that would make you think he's got more to give. Yakupov has played with good players at times over the last season and a half, and has still done nothing with it. It seems like he's hard to play with, and he doesn't exactly make the players around him better either.

If the Oilers have ruined Yakupov as much as some Oiler fans are arguing, than we'll never see Yakupov turn into a decent player here.

And btw, Naslund scored 52 points in 66 games his third season with the Penguins (second full). He went on to pretty much consistently score 20+ the rest of his career. He also wasn't a first overall pick. I would love it if Yak would put up 20 as an Oiler next year, I just don't think it's going to happen.

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Schultz. Yakupov is still a good hockey player, just managed horribly. If we traded him I feel like he would score 20-30 goals on almost any other team in the league.

Schultz on the other hand, I feel, is not a good hockey player. Weak physically, little to no defensive awareness and non-existent slap shot. Only thing he really has going for him is a good-not-great offensive awareness and can skate.

Edit: Still think Yakupov was a disappointment. But he had all the tools to excel offensively in this league.

 

[Vagabond]

I wouldn't be so sure considering his religion. But regardless of his beliefs/usage of alcohol, Yakupov was one of the first people to arrive in Edmonton this year to get ready for the season. He spent a large part of the summer here training and working.

Hard work has never been close to Yakupov's problem imo. I'd never question his work ethic. He just doesn't know how/where to direct that work. It's the same case on the ice in games. The hockey IQ just seems to be lagging so far behind the rest of his tools.

Agreed! Although through Krueger, he seemed to always be in the shooting lanes and in the right scoring areas in the offensive zones. Eakins turned him into what never came natural to him, a third line grinder!

I am disappointed in him but how much of his development suffered under the worst coach imaginable! I just hope he can revert back to his rookie season where he enjoyed playing every shift and brought so much energy and intensity!

Hopefully MacT is fired shortly along with everybody that's linked or has a history with Lowe.. including Lowe! This mess can mend as long as Katz gets of his *** and does something!

As far as the poll goes; I'm most disappointed with how things went with Yakupov but Schultz is by far the worst of the two! He's more of a liability and is ****ing lazy as **** half the time!

 

[Elias Pettersson]

Other teams boards have polls on which player is better.

The oilers board have polls on which player is worse

 

[Arpeggio]

Schultz. Yakupov is still a good hockey player, just managed horribly. If we traded him I feel like he would score 20-30 goals on almost any other team in the league.

Schultz on the other hand, I feel, is not a good hockey player. Weak physically, little to no defensive awareness and non-existent slap shot. Only thing he really has going for him is a good-not-great offensive awareness and can skate.

Edit: Still think Yakupov was a disappointment. But he had all the tools to excel offensively in this league.

I could just as easily say that Schultz, playing on a good team with a good partner (or sheltered defensive minutes) would score 50 points.

This team sucks, if its making Yakupov look bad, it's probably making the rest of the team look bad too.