News: Blues do not extend QO to Nail Yakupov

[member 157595]

The guy is the living embodiment of the Benny Hill Theme.

 

[Cherpak]

Could play on the 1st line...

Yeah that will help....

 

[Markus078]

Canucks

Sedin - Sedin - Yakupov
Baertschi - Horvat - Yakupov
Granlund - Horvat - Yakupov

Don't you overuse Yak and Horvat a little bit ;-)

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Canucks

Sedin - Sedin - Yakupov
Baertschi - Horvat - Yakupov
Granlund - Horvat - Yakupov

Vancouver's lineup looks a lot better without Yakupov in it.
Not sure if this is what Van is rolling with next season....

Line 1 LW D. Sedin C H. Sedin RW Boeser
Line 2 LW Baertschi C Horvat RW Granlund
Line 3 LW Dahlen C Pettersson RW Eriksson
Line 4 LW Gaunce C Sutter RW Megna

1st D-Pair LD Edler RD Stecher
2nd D-Pair LD Hutton RD Tanev
3rd D-Pair LD Juolevi RD Biega

Goalie's:
Starter: Markstrom
Backup: ?

Scratched List
RD Gudbranson
C Chaput
C Cramarossa
LW Boucher
RW Rodin ~ UFA
LW Skille ~ UFA
G Miller ~ UFA
RW Dorsett + LTIR

 

[Frank Drebin]

i blame all of his coaches

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

If he wants to remain in the NHL he will be signed somewhere.

This makes a whole lotta damn sense.

 

[GigaChad]

Signs a cheap 1 year contract --> gets 50pt --> someone signs him for 5x4 --> busts again.

 

[crowi]

If he wants to remain in the NHL he will be signed somewhere.

Damn, that insight.

 

[KarmaPolice]

He needs to go to the KHL and find his game again, and MAYBE come back over later. Or find a team that will be willing to send him down to their AHL team and let him play a crap ton of minutes and hope he figures things out. I think he can still be a 25-25 guy on a 2nd line -- similar to like a Tobias Rieder in ARZ, but a bit better offensively. However, his confidence in all aspects of his game is clearly at an all time low, and he needs to find or re-discover himself and his game again. Right now he needs to figure out what the best choice is for HIM in order to rejuvenate his career, or it could be a very short one, and don't chase the money, unless he truly feels this is his final kick at the can, no matter what.

Not that it's really my business, but I wonder if he's living on his own yet, or still with his mother, as he did while in Edmonton. I'm just not sure that is the healthiest living arrangement for a guy his age, and he needs someone who will be brutally honest with him, and tell him what he needs to hear, even if it's not easy to tell him or easy for him to hear it; I'm not sure his mom is the right person to be that brutally honest person that he needs. But this is just an aside, and who really knows what's best for him; I can't claim to know, that's for sure. I can only speculate. It just seems what he was doing in the past wasn't working, so might be time for a change in all aspects of his life, which is why I bring it up. It's a shame to see quite a bit of talent go to such waste (and I saw quite a lot of talent during his rookie season, before Dallas freakin Eakins came along, who has to be the biggest ****** bag in the business).

 

[smackdaddy]

More like his agent has interest in taking advantage of a terrible GM

 

[Karl Eriksson]

I could see him fail in MTL.

 

[Viqsi]

Montreal, lol.

Drouin - Galchenyuk - Yakupov

The worst defensive trio in the league. But could be a fun offensive line to watch.

Then they can follow up with a Derrick Pouliot - Griffin Reinhart pairing.

 

[Kcb12345]

https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/blues-extend-qualifying-offers-to-5-players/c-290158736

As such, will become an UFA on July 1st (assuming he doesn't sign with Blues before then).

Which teams will go after him in free agency?

Maybe Dallas could sign him to a cheap contract to play alongside Benn and Seguin on the right wing. Could really boost his production. Highly doubt it would happen though. I don't think the Stars would have interest

 

[BleedBlue14]

Yakupov is lazy as F#$K, but he has speed and talent when he wants to play. Good cheap player, but he needs coaching and not sure if the dysfunctional Avs can provide the help he needs. At least there will lots of Russians....

I think he would be better playing for the Pens, Chicago, Montreal, Nashville or Washington...good teams that can shelter him and solid coaching to regain his confidence.

Lets be a little more educated about the situation.. Yak has a great work ethic and is a hard worker on ice and off. He just can't figure it out on how to translate all of his abilities into a productive on ice situation.

 

[Flameshomer]

I'd pitch him a 1 year 850k-1 mil contract as a low ball to join the flames. Hell he could surprise everyone beside johnny and monahan hahaha.

 

[M2Beezy]

i blame all of his coaches

How could you blame ALL of them? At that point ya gotta start pointing the finger at the player

 

[Yatzhee]

Buffalo

 

[MMC]

i blame all of his coaches

Only blame Eakins, he was great under Krueger.

 

[dss97]

He gets worse every year he's in the league. He's the Benjamin Button of prospect development.

Someone will sign him this offseason then he'll be in the KHL the year after.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

I can't believe people think Yak still has value.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

You have to wonder how the scouts got it so wrong. Typically nowadays such a high pick outright busting is unheard of, as they can figure out which players don't have the hockey sense required to play in the NHL. The other possibility is Edmonton ruined his confidence as he had a pretty decent rookie year.

Wonder if the pens can turn him around. Schultz was called the worst dman in the league when the pens got him, and he's turned into a 50 point dman playing prominent minutes on a cup winner.

 

[jebs]

Whoever signs him, their team gets worse. A tank team should pick him up.

 

[SirPaste]

KHL, he can't hang in this league

 

[JaegerDice]

I expect Bowman to kick the tires on Yak.

That would pretty much confirm the suspicion that Q has been cut out of consultation on roster.

 

[sandysan]

Lets be a little more educated about the situation.. Yak has a great work ethic and is a hard worker on ice and off. He just can't figure it out on how to translate all of his abilities into a productive on ice situation.

or where to be on the ice with, or without the puck which has nothing to do with "ability". All the effort in the world wont trump abysmal hockey iq and its been half a decade and he's gotten worse ( if that is even conceivable) every year.

I really really think the only way he ever plays regularly in the NHL is if he goes somewhere else for a while, most likely the K. If he can solidify his play there there might be interest but as of right now I don't think anyone thinks he's a full time NHL irrespective of where he was drafted. The ship has sailed, he plays another tweener year in the nhl getting miniscule minutes in a role he is ill suited for, the ship sinks.