Why is Yakupov a bust?

[nmbr_24]

I don't care if someone's a 1st overall pick -- that's irrelevant to whether you play or not on opening night. You play if you earn your roster-spot, not because you're 1st overall.

Guy Lafleur didn't play NHL until he was 20. Joe Sakic at 18 decided to spend another year in the WHL and waited until the next season to join the NHL -- didn't hurt him too much. Same with Mike Modano -- made out all right.

Especially with players from overseas who have other challenges in addition to hockey, I really think it's not a bad idea to find a bridge between minor-pro and the NHL. This could just be another season in the minors with a few games' taste of the big-leagues, or whatever, but a slow transition isn't a bad thing, ever.

I think that when a team finishes last, they want some hope. The people who make the roster decisions know that, they also know that they are paying this guy to play in the league immediately.

If they had done it the way Boston has eased in guys like Joe Thornton, Phil Kessel, and Tyler Seguin maybe it would have been different but he has to be willing to work on what the coach says he has to work on so it really is up to him.

 

[RC51]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

 

[Bank Shot]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

Agreed! The Oil ruined him just like they ruined McDavid!

If the Oilers just would have traded Yak to Montreal he would have beeeeennn savveeddddd!

 

[McRpro]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

So Yak is a bust only because the Oilers didn't trade him to the Habs?

 

[The Nuge]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

Please. He didn't need Galchenyuk in junior and he didn't need him as a rookie. You couldn't be less correct. Heck, look how well he did with Roy.

The problem with Yak is Eakins absolutely destroyed him. He has mediocre hockey iq at best, and that would have been ok if RK stayed, but instead we got a clueless coach who did nothing but confuse him and teach him the wrong way to play defense. And to top it off, when he played well, he was immediately benched, so he could reflect on it and not mess up. Seriously. Our coach actually benched him for playing too well.

 

[Crabapple]

He never really adjusted his game to the NHL level, he though if he kept doing what made him successful in juniors everything would eventually click and he'd be successful in the NHL. People have said he's a very stubborn player, and although he works very hard, he doesn't work at his deficiencies. It's too bad because I've met Nail a couple times and he is so nice and friendly and just a positive guy I really hope he can figure it out.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Agreed! The Oil ruined him just like they ruined McDavid!

If the Oilers just would have traded Yak to Montreal he would have beeeeennn savveeddddd!

Absolutely! We all know how well Therrien develops talent.

 

[General Fanager]

All the tools...no tool box.

 

[smackdaddy]

If only yak was traded to the Habs.

 

[General Fanager]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

Ridiculous. The Habs are very lucky that The Oilers did pick him or he would have been a Hab and we would have been stuck with him....

 

[Empoleon8771]

Not a smart enough hockey player when he doesn't have the puck. Talent can only take him so far.

 

[Korpse]

Poor hockey sense, poor coaching, poor confidence.

Following Ralph Kreuger's success with Yakupov (scored at a 30g pace), later coaches stopped playing him where he was successful (RW and low on the right side on the PP) and attempted to round him into a complete hockey player.

They succeeded only in beating all offensive skill out of him while he failed to learn the defensive side of the game.

Perfect example of square peg - round hole. Not every player on a hockey team needs to play a 200ft game. He could have been a useful scorer and a defensive black hole instead of a complete bust.

I tend to agree with this. In his rookie season Yak came as advertised, of course he had flaws in his game but he was a dynamic hockey player. I think he got drafted by the wrong team at the wrong time, and a trade to a Hitchcock coached team did him no favours.

On another note, I'll never understand why Kruger was ran out of town the way he was.

 

[ItchyScratchy77]

Yak is a bust today because of the hard headed oil management. Galchenyuk is the ONLY partner that understood what Yak is really good at. Every time the Habs asked about Yak the oil wanted way way too much in any trade. Oil insisted Yak was a GREAT first overall pick and NOT a bust. The Oil could have made at least a good deal with the Habs but held out until Yak just died. Yak is still dead. Habs waiting for the waiver wire to show up on Yak. That would be the LAST chance for Yak in the nhl, otherwise he is gone to the KHL forever. The utter mismanagement of Yak and refusal to admit a bad pick cost Yak AND the OIL both. it's all bad.

To be honest, I was surprised when the Oil didn't trade the pick initially. I felt they could have landed an established D along with someones first pick. Or some sort of appropriate trade, anyways.

 

[JarvisFunk]

He's not even the same player he was in his rookie year, I'm often the type who thinks player's sometimes don't take enough responsibility for their play, but this poor kid was ruined by Dallas Eakins

 

[acor]

Agreed! The Oil ruined him just like they ruined McDavid!

If the Oilers just would have traded Yak to Montreal he would have beeeeennn savveeddddd!

You try to riddicule his post, but yeah, I think if Yak was drafyted by different team than Oilers'12, his chances of making it would be WAY better...

AND comparing McDavid to Yak, or using CMD to justify "its not Oilers fault, they were just unlucky with pics" rhetorics... Pathetic.

 

[karnige]

He simply doesn't think the game well enough. He has great physical tools which got him by in junior but he can't mentally keep up at the top level.

Its unfortunate, since he's a really hard worker and a great guy.

i feel bad for him because he plays so hard. but he doesn't have that hockey IQ.

 

[48g90a138pts]

Nail Yakupov tries too hard whenever he gets the puck. It's always go 100mph and try to deke out 3,4 or 5 players. End result 99% of the time is a turnover. He also had too many coaches, never gave him time to settle down and learn a system.

Eventually he'll get the game and will be a dangerous player.

 

[Seedling]

He still plays like he is in juniors and refuses to change his game. Every single coach he has had has tried to introduce him to his own zone and smart team play. He doesn't think he has to change his game. This is the result.

 

[Namtsua]

To be honest, I was surprised when the Oil didn't trade the pick initially. I felt they could have landed an established D along with someones first pick. Or some sort of appropriate trade, anyways.

If you believe the rumors, all the scouts and management were set on picking Ryan Murray when Katz waltzed in and demanded that Yakupov be picked.

 

[Hoser]

Guy Lafleur didn't play NHL until he was 20.

Guy Lafleur was drafted as soon as he was eligible, and played in the NHL immediately.

Joe Sakic at 18 decided to spend another year in the WHL and waited until the next season to join the NHL -- didn't hurt him too much.

Joe Sakic was late first-round pick by a team that had made the second round of the playoffs the year before. It wasn't surprising he didn't make the team right out of his first camp.

Same with Mike Modano -- made out all right.

Mike Modano went back to juniors because he refused to sign a contract with the North Stars. There was talk he would sign a deal with a European team and go back into the NHL draft pool in 1990. He didn't sign a deal with the North Stars until Christmas, by which time he had to play the rest of the year in Prince Albert.

 

[Atas2000]

His intelligence quotient in terms of professional ice hockey played in a North American style is severely lacking

Hockey IQ needed for the NA hockey is lower.

 

[McMozesmadness]

Zero hockey IQ and paper thin confidence.

 

[Atas2000]

1.He went to NA instead of developing at home and became a OHL star.

2.As a result he was drafted by the worst team possible. He wanted exposure and became a 1OA. Too bad the Oilers won the lottery too.

3.The Oilers also managed to hire the worst coach in recent history during Yak's development.

4.Yakupov obviously has confidence issues. The pressure of being 1OA and the following lack of success(in the middle of the dumpster fire the Oilers organization was at the time) he couldn't handle well. And now he is in free fall not able to get a grip.

The stupid story about lack of hockey IQ though is utter nonsense. He had tons of it. You can't really learn it or unlearn it for that matter.

The real question for me is why he has so terrible luck with teams and coaches? And why teams pick players that don't fit in their systems. St.Louis was mind boggling. Of all teams why would they try to revive his career while he is the opposite of what STL played under Hitch?

 

[Beville]

BEcause he just isn't a very good hockey player...

 

[plikestechno]

Everything above and he also has a tight inner circle around him, including his family, telling him it's everyone else's fault except his.

Ryan Murray busted too. The top of that draft was terrible. If Galch had just been healthy he would have been the easy number 1.