Confirmed Trade: [EDM/STL] Yakupov for Zach Pochiro + Cndl 2017 3rd (becomes 2018 2nd if Yak hits 15G)

[Not Sure]

before Hall trade- "you can't win with Hall, trade him for whatever help you can get on defense."
after trade- "Edmonton got robbed, Hall is a top 5 winger in the game, should of gotten Subban instead."

before Yakapov trade- "Yak might pass through waivers, don't expect anything more then a late round pick."
After trade- "Yak was a 1OA pick and you traded him for a conditional third and a prospect. Wow Chia is trash, Edmonton will never get out of the basement."

I don't even like the Oilers, but it's hilarious that the same people who laugh at them for not making any moves to make the team better also trash them for making moves and trying to make the team better. They are just going to have to prove it by making the playoffs, or at least drafting outside the top 10, otherwise the fans will never get away from this "trash Edmonton for whatever they do, no matter what."

 

[McFlyingV]

What "distraction"? Yakupov isn't a big enough player for it to be that detrimental to a team, yes he should be moved but the return was garbage, that's poor asset management.

You think a player who requested a trade multiple times through his agent who is in constant limbo about his future and ice time with a team is not a distraction? Of course he was. Thats not a indictment of Yakupov's character as I believe he's a great kid who just wants to succeed, but thats simply just the point that it had gotten to with this situation. He's a guy who's confidence was at an all time low and it started to show in his on ice performance as well as reportedly his practice habits. He went from a kid who would work his ass off in practice and be the first guy on and off the ice, to a guy who would sleepwalk through practices and even games. Thats not good for a team thats trying to build a work hard winning attitude. I'm sure he'll be motivated in STL and I hope he succeeds, but he absolutely was becoming a distraction here.

 

[Sky04]

I don't think these situations are at all comparable. Yak has been given multiple chances to improve and he simply hasn't, it wasn't going to work here so its time to move on and let other players who have been progressing since joining the organization like Caggiula, Maroon, Slepyshev etc have that increased role. Drouin simply wasn't getting an opportunity, not very comparable to Yak who while he may not have been gifted the best opportunities, had certainly received much more opportunity than Drouin. The difference is that Drouin seized the opportunity when given it, something Yakupov could never do with any sort of consistency outside of the odd few game stretch.

Drouin's value was tanked even worst than Yakupov's with him actually sitting out of hockey, the point was that you don't an asset when it's at it's lowest point.

Did Yakupov not look good with McDavid up until his injury? He could've been slotted with him again to "shop" him around for a bit, if switching Yakupov and Eberle for a couple weeks was going to be that detrimental then the Oilers have bigger things to worry about. Other than that I don't see any harm in trying to increase value from a player.

 

[Dimensha]

before Hall trade- "you can't win with Hall, trade him for whatever help you can get on defense."
after trade- "Edmonton got robbed, Hall is a top 5 winger in the game, should of gotten Subban instead."

before Yakapov trade- "Yak might pass through waivers, don't expect anything more then a late round pick."
After trade- "Yak was a 1OA pick and you traded him for a conditional third and a prospect. Wow Chia is trash, Edmonton will never get out of the basement."

I don't even like the Oilers, but it's hilarious that the same people who laugh at them for not making any moves to make the team better also trash them for making moves and trying to make the team better. They are just going to have to prove it by making the playoffs, or at least drafting outside the top 10, otherwise the fans will never get away from this "trash Edmonton for whatever they do, no matter what."

Well I for one am glad that even Oilers detractors can identify the hypocrisy of some poster here on HF. Its pretty ridiculous at this point.

 

[6ix]

What kind of value was everyone expecting from one of the worst GM's in the league?

He practically gave away seguin and hall, who were productive players. It makes sense for him to get terrible value for yakupov anyway.

 

[Semantics]

Did Yakupov not look good with McDavid up until his injury? He could've been slotted with him again to "shop" him around for a bit

LOL, as if anybody would fall for that trick.

 

[Got One Cup]

I was really worried when I saw we traded for him, thought Armstrong might have sent one of our good d prospects for him. I really don't understand the move though. He doesn't fit our system and hasn't shown any development the last couple years. Probably a waste of a 3rd and cap space, hope I'm wrong.

 

[CupofOil]

before Hall trade- "you can't win with Hall, trade him for whatever help you can get on defense."
after trade- "Edmonton got robbed, Hall is a top 5 winger in the game, should of gotten Subban instead."

before Yakapov trade- "Yak might pass through waivers, don't expect anything more then a late round pick."
After trade- "Yak was a 1OA pick and you traded him for a conditional third and a prospect. Wow Chia is trash, Edmonton will never get out of the basement."

I don't even like the Oilers, but it's hilarious that the same people who laugh at them for not making any moves to make the team better also trash them for making moves and trying to make the team better. They are just going to have to prove it by making the playoffs, or at least drafting outside the top 10, otherwise the fans will never get away from this "trash Edmonton for whatever they do, no matter what."

Great post. Couldn't have said it better myself

 

[McFlyingV]

Drouin's value was tanked even worst than Yakupov's with him actually sitting out of hockey, the point was that you don't an asset when it's at it's lowest point.

Did Yakupov not look good with McDavid up until his injury? He could've been slotted with him again to "shop" him around for a bit, if switching Yakupov and Eberle for a couple weeks was going to be that detrimental then the Oilers have bigger things to worry about. Other than that I don't see any harm in trying to increase value from a player.

Thats really not true, because Drouin's hockey ability was never really in question. Anyone looking to acquire him knew his game had never really fallen off a cliff for 4 years like Yakupov's had.

He looked ok with McDavid (2g 8a in 12games), but everyone looks good with McDavid. He certainly didn't score goals at a rate that you would expect for a guy playing with McDavid and its not like he suddenly learned how to play defence or maintain possession in the offensive zone.

The idea that Yakupov's value could be built up by playing him with McDavid is wishful thinking. Every gm and scout around the league knows how good McDavid is and realizes those results are a mirage. The only way Yak's value was going to increase was if he learned to consistently produce on his own line, and while he showed glimpses of it from time to time, he certainly could never string together more than a few good games before going invisible again (or not invisible on the defensive side of the game) for a 10 game stretch.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

They dont want to believe it so dont bother.

Look, if Chia comes out and says Yakupov was shooting blood out his eyes DEMANDING a trade all pre season, then ok.

Otherwise no, this trade is trash. They just gave the guy away.

So keep him, play him, hope he turns it around somehow then hope they get value for him?
Did you not see they tried that last year?

No one wanted him

 

[Rayban*]

Good thing they held on to those valuable 1st over all's for so long to get fair value....1st overall x2 for Larsson and a conditional 3rd.

 

[Dimensha]

What kind of value was everyone expecting from one of the worst GM's in the league?

He practically gave away seguin and hall, who were productive players. It makes sense for him to get terrible value for yakupov anyway.

What do you think Chiarelli should have got for Yakupov?

 

[Got One Cup]

What kind of value was everyone expecting from one of the worst GM's in the league?

He practically gave away seguin and hall, who were productive players. It makes sense for him to get terrible value for yakupov anyway.

You do realize he has been playing like a 3rd liner for a couple years now right?What value did you think he would return? It's not the GMs fault here. He didn't draft him or have much say in his development.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

I was really worried when I saw we traded for him, thought Armstrong might have sent one of our good d prospects for him. I really don't understand the move though. He doesn't fit our system and hasn't shown any development the last couple years. Probably a waste of a 3rd and cap space, hope I'm wrong.

The fact we got a top-9 NHL player with a third rounder automatically makes it not a waste.

 

[Dimensha]

Good thing they held on to those valuable 1st over all's for so long to get fair value....1st overall x2 for Larsson and a conditional 3rd.

What does the Hall trade have to do with the Yak trade?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

What kind of value was everyone expecting from one of the worst GM's in the league?

He practically gave away seguin and hall, who were productive players. It makes sense for him to get terrible value for yakupov anyway.

Loui Eriksson scored 30 goals in Boston
Quite the give away!

 

[Rayban*]

What does the Hall trade have to do with the Yak trade?

Nothing, just for years we've heard about how they're not goign to trade their prospects unless they get fair value.....maybe they did idk.

 

[KCC]

great for both parties I guess. I thought yak should have stayed for the 1st month. he might have started to gel. but his attitude was horrible. he barely showed up in preseason. I get your upset but this is the big leagues. man up. Im not sure hes a good fit on the blues either.

I don't think it was his attitude so much as after all this time he still didn't "get it" on the ice. He always looked so lost out there. He could go at high speed but he couldn't think the game fast enough at high speed. JMO and I stand by it.

 

[Crabapple]

Yak is a guy who has a career high 33 points and 17 goals, and a -88 in his career. Outside of his rookie season he hasn't been able to generate offense and is abysmal defensively.

Outside of his #1 pick status and a good rookie season 4 years ago, there's not a whole lot of promise from a guy like Yak and I'm glad we got something of value for him. I really like him as a person and hope he can turn it around on a stellar organization like St. Louis, but his time was up in Edmonton and we really needed to turn the page. I wish him all the best and hope he can turn his career around.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

I don't know if there's a worse fit for Yakupov than Hitch

 

[Rayban*]

Loui Eriksson scored 30 goals in Boston
Quite the give away!

Any GM that tried to trade for Seguin today would be fired on the spot.

 

[Got One Cup]

The fact we got a top-9 NHL player with a third rounder automatically makes it not a waste.

You think he will last long in our top 9 under Hitchcock? The guy is a disaster on defense, has no clue who to cover or where to be 90% of the time. Maybe He will put it all together with a new start and all but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Any GM that tried to trade for Seguin today would be fired on the spot.

Because Seguin wasn't an 80 point player in Boston and now he gets to play with Benn

Still doesn't mean he gave him away

 

[zar]

TRUTHS:

Oilers should not have picked Yakupov in the first place. Their scouting staff were surveyed and decided on Murray (a Dman should have been obvious as they already drafted what they thought were their franchise winger and center in Hall and RNH), however, the 3 stooges (AKA Lowe, Katz and Tambellini) decided to ignore their own experts and go with the CONCENSUS player Yakupov.

Yakupov is one of those players that needs to play with other offensively creative players (as in the top 6). Is this ideally what you want out of your 1OA but that's what we were dealing with. The Oilers, in year one, used Yak in that role and he did well. Queue Dallas Eakins, he plays him in the bottom 6 and Yak loses all of his confidence, as those players do not think the game like he does (80% offence). Since 2013/14 the Oilers have used Yak in a bottom 6 role (with players such as Letestu, Korpikoski, Lander, Joensuu, Arcobello, etc) and insignificant PP opportunities (you might see PP time but it was with the likes of Lander and Letestu on that unit)... the Oilers bottom 6 has been brutal and has had very little skill on it, Yak produces little and of course his defensive game is... wait for it... legendary! His value plummets.

Chiarelli comes to the Oilers last year - a month after he starts he goes to his first draft and shops Yakupov... Yak is rumored to be worth nothing more than a 3rd. Today Yak is traded for a 3rd (possibly a 2nd). This trade is not on Chiarelli, as you could say he got more today than he would have a year ago and Yakupov's results from last year did nothing to support an increase in value.

In summary, the Oilers should have drafted Murray (I am being realistic because he was truly the only other consideration) or at least the Oilers should have put Yak in a position to realize his possible potential and play him in the top 6.

Personally, I was not a fan of drafting Yak... I was hoping for Murray or Lindholm in that draft. I think Yak works hard.... those saying he is lazy have not watched him play, they are stereotyping him because he is Russian and they have that stigma. Yak does have a low hockey IQ but has some very good offensive skills when he is playing with like talent - he can't do it on his own, he is a complimentary player.

Where will the Blues play him? If the Blues play him in the top 6, I think he will be a 20 goal scorer, as he will be playing with offensively talented forwards. If they don't, he will see a lot of the press box and he will be playing in the KHL next year.

 

[McFlyingV]

Any GM that tried to trade for Seguin today would be fired on the spot.

And Seguin today is not who he was when he was traded. The return at the time of the trade (and even today) was not bad for Seguin. He had yet to hit 70 points in a season when he was dealt and was coming off a lacklustre season and playoffs. He was traded for a 2-way winger who had 3 70 point season over the last 4 years, a recent 1st round D prospect, a good forward prospect who is now a 50 point player in a different organization, and a guy coming off 2 30+goal AHL seasons (who is now washed and done).