Player Discussion Nail Yakupov Talk II - Say something, I'm giving up on you....

[ResilientBeast]

From the last thread

^true dis, and i'd like to see the Oilers send Yak to Montreal so he can play with his former line mate in junior, Alex Galchenyk. maybe the Oilers could score a RD from the Habs system that are further along in their development like 23 year old Morgan Ellis or 22 year old Darren Dietz? both have good size and Ellis can produce points although i do realize neither has much NHL experience.

We're getting fleeced by having him on the team.

We need more effective players that can play a solid third line role in the bottom 6, and we need guys that are bigger and tougher to play against on the wing in the top 6. Yak doesn't come close to filling the description for either of those roles.

I really don't care if he goes to another team and does well (although I would be shocked if he did), he isn't getting it done here and provides nothing that the Oilers need.

If he hasn't been able to do anything effectively for three straight years, what makes you think he's going to figure it out in the 4th?

This. It seems to me that people want to see something that just isn't there. I'd imagine all the losing and, as Replacment says, mismanagement of players over wayyyyyy to many years has a large effect on how we perceive things as fans. I really wanted to believe the Yakupov hype for a couple of years, but it doesn't add up realistically.

I truly believe that if more folks took some time away from the game and saw things from an almost "outsider's" viewpoint, their opinions, good or bad, might change for the entire scope of this 10 year "project".....better known as the Oilers.

Pump and dump Purcell.

Move up Yakupov to top line post trade deadline.

If he still can't get his crap together then move him. I suspect he will flourish, but could be wrong.

But either way we'll have a good idea of what he's capable of once and for all.

Bring in some better players for the bottom six and overhaul the blueline.

Win Stanley Cup next year.

The problem with that is that an 'outsider's viewpoint' mainly consists of seeing a player struggling and focusing on said struggles. There's no desire to see the redeeming qualities of the player. This is why the main board is full of tunnel-visioned arguments either for or against specific players.

At least there are posters in here who are willing to address that Yakupov is a flawed player with loads of still untapped potential.

To answer the question, he's what you'd consider a hard-nosed player who is capable of protecting the puck. He's slippery.

And it's amazing how many here want to simply cut ties with the player when we just recently signed another 'draft bust' to a long-term contract.

Click to read more...

 

[joestevens29]

Pump and dump Purcell.

Move up Yakupov to top line post trade deadline.

If he still can't get his crap together then move him. I suspect he will flourish, but could be wrong.

But either way we'll have a good idea of what he's capable of once and for all.

Bring in some better players for the bottom six and overhaul the blueline.

Win Stanley Cup next year.

The one thing Rishaug brought up was his salary. You know that Yak has top 6 potential, he just can't be the guy that stirs the drink on a line. However at 2.5mil he isn't really hurting you financially quite yet.

Keep in mind going into the season we had the following;
Impending UFA making 4.5mil coming off of 82-12-22-34pts -33 season

Former 1st overall making 2.5mil coming off of 81-14-19-33pts -35 season

Pretty much everyone was more concerned about Purcell's contract than they were Yak. Is it really far fetched to think if given the exact same time that Yak wouldn't be better or if given Yak's ice-time Purcell would suck?

More I think about it the more I rather just keep Yak and see what plays out with Purcell/Eberle/Pouilot and just have a cheap depth player next year just in case.

 

[OilTastic]

we've waited long enough for Nail to show something, anything and now i believe in order for the Oilers to get better, they must move on from this guy. addition by subtraction. he's redundant at the forward position. let's see what we can get for him either at the deadline or over the summer. has shown way too little for a guy that was almost unanimous as the #1 pick in his draft year.

 

[belair]

Responding to frag2's question in the previous thread:

Benoit Pouliot. Former 4th overall from the Crosby draft.

 

[doulos]

The one thing Rishaug brought up was his salary. You know that Yak has top 6 potential, he just can't be the guy that stirs the drink on a line. However at 2.5mil he isn't really hurting you financially quite yet.

Keep in mind going into the season we had the following;
Impending UFA making 4.5mil coming off of 82-12-22-34pts -33 season

Former 1st overall making 2.5mil coming off of 81-14-19-33pts -35 season

Pretty much everyone was more concerned about Purcell's contract than they were Yak. Is it really far fetched to think if given the exact same time that Yak wouldn't be better or if given Yak's ice-time Purcell would suck?

More I think about it the more I rather just keep Yak and see what plays out with Purcell/Eberle/Pouilot and just have a cheap depth player next year just in case.

I think you make a lot of sense,

 

[joestevens29]

I think you make a lot of sense,

Thank Rishaug for that

He kinda said don't look at Yak as a 1st overall pick. Look at him as a 2.5mil player. Still underperforiming, but still has that potential.

 

[Psychoil]

Do something, I'm giving up on you.

 

[Stoneman89]

If I could say anything to Yak that would help, it would be something like, "stop handling the puck so much.You get yourself into trouble by overhandling it. Get to others and go to shooting areas. If your biggest trait is shooting the puck, then do it. Every chance you get. If the other guys can't get you the biscuit, that's on them, not you."


And then let the chips fall where they may.

 

[frag2]

Responding to frag2's question in the previous thread:

Benoit Pouliot. Former 4th overall from the Crosby draft.

Ah ok. I thought you were referring to Nuge because Nuge, while disappointing for a 1st overall IMO, has many more positives than Yak.

 

[Digger12]

I thought MacLellan's comment about Yakupov, saying that "there's a lot of mixed signals that go out to him" was interesting.

Makes me wonder if his family and/or agent are telling him to play one way, and his teammates/coaches are telling him to play a completely different way, and he doesn't know which way is up anymore.

Either way, it doesn't sound like Yak is in a very good place right now, and that's a shame.

 

[Heavy Dee]

I thought MacLellan's comment about Yakupov, saying that "there's a lot of mixed signals that go out to him" was interesting.

Makes me wonder if his family and/or agent are telling him to play one way, and his teammates/coaches are telling him to play a completely different way, and he doesn't know which way is up anymore.

Either way, it doesn't sound like Yak is in a very good place right now, and that's a shame.

interesting. the kid is clearly void of any confidence.

 

[joestevens29]

I thought MacLellan's comment about Yakupov, saying that "there's a lot of mixed signals that go out to him" was interesting.

Makes me wonder if his family and/or agent are telling him to play one way, and his teammates/coaches are telling him to play a completely different way, and he doesn't know which way is up anymore.

Either way, it doesn't sound like Yak is in a very good place right now, and that's a shame.

Well a lot of people still expect 1st overall play out of the kid. Coach wise I have to think the message has been similar from day one with TM.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

I thought MacLellan's comment about Yakupov, saying that "there's a lot of mixed signals that go out to him" was interesting.

Makes me wonder if his family and/or agent are telling him to play one way, and his teammates/coaches are telling him to play a completely different way, and he doesn't know which way is up anymore.

Either way, it doesn't sound like Yak is in a very good place right now, and that's a shame.

I wouldn't be surprised to be honest.

McLellan has probably explained to him what he wants to him and outside sources basically tell him to do the opposite.

It's why i love Oates as an outside help for guys. Oates refuses to tell a a player how to play and what they should be doing. Instead he tells them how to improve technique and little things to be effective in the coaches system

 

[Shizuka]

I don't know if anyone heard it, but I wasn't enthused with his post-game reply; a media wag asked him directly about that goal against he was responsible for, and I kept hearing a lack of accountability. He kept saying 'I try my best, that's all' and 'not just one guy' ... as a guy who was cheering alot for Yakupov to make it, I am rather quickly losing any faith this kid will realize his play and general awareness on the ice has to be far, far better.

It is time to move on from the Yakupov experiment. Certainly, a sizeable share rests on the stupid choices made by previous coaching staff on how they utilized him, but at what point does the player take it upon himself to stop looking around, and be cognizant of the need to step up?

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

I don't know if anyone heard it, but I wasn't enthused with his post-game reply; a media wag asked him directly about that goal against he was responsible for, and I kept hearing a lack of accountability. He kept saying 'I try my best, that's all' and 'not just one guy' ... as a guy who was cheering alot for Yakupov to make it, I am rather quickly losing any faith this kid will realize his play and general awareness on the ice has to be far, far better.

It is time to move on from the Yakupov experiment. Certainly, a sizeable share rests on the stupid choices made by previous coaching staff on how they utilized him, but at what point does the player take it upon himself to stop looking around, and be cognizant of the need to step up?

To me that sounds like Yak saying he is okay with messing up as long as he tries hard... That's not a way to succeed in this league.

 

[McShogun99]

Best thing would be to move him. He'll never have success here. What they should do now is play him in the top six for the rest of the year. Let him focus on just offence and don't punish him for any defensive mistakes. This might show other teams that he still has offensive potential then move him this summer.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

To me that sounds like Yak saying he is okay with messing up as long as he tries hard... That's not a way to succeed in this league.

Ohhhh I always thought players got more defensively aware the more experienced they became.

I had no idea. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Sweetpotato]

The one thing Rishaug brought up was his salary. You know that Yak has top 6 potential, he just can't be the guy that stirs the drink on a line. However at 2.5mil he isn't really hurting you financially quite yet.

Keep in mind going into the season we had the following;
Impending UFA making 4.5mil coming off of 82-12-22-34pts -33 season

Former 1st overall making 2.5mil coming off of 81-14-19-33pts -35 season

Pretty much everyone was more concerned about Purcell's contract than they were Yak. Is it really far fetched to think if given the exact same time that Yak wouldn't be better or if given Yak's ice-time Purcell would suck?

More I think about it the more I rather just keep Yak and see what plays out with Purcell/Eberle/Pouilot and just have a cheap depth player next year just in case.

Ever forward on this team hasn't produced on the 3rd/4th lines, it just erks me that yak is crapped on for it. I completely agree, he mixes well with McDavid, Draisaitl and Hall and is cheap.

I get the feeling/hope this is a pump and dump with Eberle and Yak just fills that role after he's traded.

 

[Suxnet]

I thought MacLellan's comment about Yakupov, saying that "there's a lot of mixed signals that go out to him" was interesting.

Makes me wonder if his family and/or agent are telling him to play one way, and his teammates/coaches are telling him to play a completely different way, and he doesn't know which way is up anymore.

Either way, it doesn't sound like Yak is in a very good place right now, and that's a shame.

Maybe the Oilers are still trying to turn Yak into a checker (like Eakins was) and Larionov is perhaps telling him to stick to the scorers game?

If that is indeed true, then Yak really needs to get out of here. Drafting high so many times has been a curse for this franchise because it has lulled management and fans into thinking that they'd turn the team around due to the talent they possess alone. That hasn't happened. Now with Yak, they don't even know how to use him properly and are trying to force a square peg into a circular hole to make up for what the Oilers lack.

Well, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but it makes some sense considering how they've been using him.

 

[guymez]

Ever forward on this team hasn't produced on the 3rd/4th lines, it just erks me that yak is crapped on for it. I completely agree, he mixes well with McDavid, Draisaitl and Hall and is cheap.

I get the feeling/hope this is a pump and dump with Eberle and Yak just fills that role after he's traded.

Lets hope not.

 

[Arpeggio]

I like how the argument for dealing Eberle is that he only produces when he plays in the top 6 and is useless anywhere else, while the same people insist that Yakupov needs to be force-fed top-six minutes. At least Eberle does something with his minutes.

Yakupov may better than Purcell, but really neither should be on this team long-term.

Also, is anyone else shocked that Purcell has 11 goals this season? I can recall one of them.

 

[joestevens29]

I don't know if anyone heard it, but I wasn't enthused with his post-game reply; a media wag asked him directly about that goal against he was responsible for, and I kept hearing a lack of accountability. He kept saying 'I try my best, that's all' and 'not just one guy' ... as a guy who was cheering alot for Yakupov to make it, I am rather quickly losing any faith this kid will realize his play and general awareness on the ice has to be far, far better.

It is time to move on from the Yakupov experiment. Certainly, a sizeable share rests on the stupid choices made by previous coaching staff on how they utilized him, but at what point does the player take it upon himself to stop looking around, and be cognizant of the need to step up?

That was another thing that Rishaug seemed caught off guard by. Yak answered every hard question there was and didn't deflect.

 

[joestevens29]

To me that sounds like Yak saying he is okay with messing up as long as he tries hard... That's not a way to succeed in this league.

Well at least he admitted he realized he screwed up. Don't hear too many guys owning up to particular plays nowadays.

 

[guymez]

I like how the argument for dealing Eberle is that he only produces when he plays in the top 6 and is useless anywhere else, while the same people insist that Yakupov needs to be force-fed top-six minutes. At least Eberle does something with his minutes.

Yakupov may better than Purcell, but really neither should be on this team long-term.

Also, is anyone else shocked that Purcell has 11 goals this season? I can recall one of them.

While I agree with your post in general...I have to ask what is Yakupov better at than Purcell? Seriously...what element of Yakupovs game translates better than Purcells?

 

[joestevens29]

While I agree with your post in general...I have to ask what is Yakupov better at than Purcell? Seriously...what element of Yakupovs game translates better than Purcells?

You do realize that up until only a few months ago Purcell really wasn't all that special either. If he at 29 or 30 can learn some new things is it that far fetched to think Yak couldn't get to the same level fairly quickly if he had proper guidance?