Great point and I agree.
I don't think any of these abilities stick out for Yakubov.
Defense: Underrated. He works hard and goes hard after the puck. Flaws? You bet, but not that big of a worry for a young kid.
Work-ethic: Overall, probably really good. The kid obviously has a tremendous drive and must work out extremely hard to be as skilled as he is. He is hardly a floater on the ice.
Mentality: Some reason for concern. Given that its a hockey player we are talking about, his attitude could possibly be qualified as a big negative.
Show boat. Very star focused. Big head.
How this will play out, I think solely depends on where he ends up, how well he plays and how he is threated. If he can't really meet his expectations and media/fans/coaches/brass in his club starts to pressure him, it could be a recipe for disaster. He he plays really well, I don't have any reason for concern. In between good or bad? I think it comes down to the city he is in. His teammates etc.
Bottom line, I think Nail got much fewer question marks than Kovalchuk. Kova had a bigger head and bigger flaws than Yakubov. And Kova was loved in Atlanta, and the moment he wound up on a slightly better team he took that team to the Stanley Cup finals by himself. Pat Kane is a player in Chicago that seem to have some issues to for sure. I hardly think Kane is all that much better than Nail. OTOH, I think there is a bigger risk with Nail Yakupov than Kane and Kovalchuk, because Nail is not quite as good as those two. And its when these players starts to struggle that there are reason for concern, as we have seen over the years.
The big risk with Yakupov is definitely the KHL. And then its a great minus that you have to pay him so darn much instantly when he becomes a RFA.
I agree, but I like that he got alot of potential to become a really good PP player. He is a great passer and a good shooter, and he got the really modern really quick puck handling ability that is the trademark of any good PP. I really really think a PP with Yaks down low on the right side and BR up on the right point could have alot of potential.
Then I think Yaks is a bit overrated 5 on 5. He is small and not extremely fast, he is extremely quick feets, but he isn't the type that constantly is flying the length of the ice.
Or he asked him 6 days ago when Kreider was still a bust...
I think you gotta lean towards moving Kreider for Yakupov no doubt. Its so easy now to say that we need Kreider, but wait till we start to get up there as a contender but -- like so many others -- falls short because we don't have quite the elite talent that the best team haves, and that talent like it often does seem completely impossible to get. Like how often can you get a really talented player? You are lucky to get one every ten years.
For all that Kreider is doing right now, he seems to play out as a 2nd-3rd line winger who can pop around 40 pts. My point is just, I have a hard time seing us "not" being able to replace Kreider if we are willing to pay 3.5-4.5m on the UFA market. We could be forced to wait a long time for a kid as talented as Yaks.
