Broilers
Registered User
Colorado is first in the league standings and Yakopov is one of their top point producers. Awesome asset management from the Oilers
Screw Yakupov. Lazy little whiner who twice publicly asked to be traded from the Oilers.
The first trace demand coming before he had even played a season's worth of games in the NHL.
I seldom wish a player ill. Yakupov would be an exception to that rule.
Dubnyk too - have to add that in case the usual suspects come along and say 'oh if only he was a good Saskatchewan boy you'd love him ... '
The situation CHANGED in STL. They were anticipating a good start, being able to cruise into the playoffs, but instead struggled out of the gate and thus putting pressure on Hitchcock to try to save his own job and go different ways. Yak went from producing to not playing much or being buried in bottomsix. Circumstantially, the Blues went a different way.Yeaaahhh, and last year he looked to be turning into a first line forward for the Blues, earning rave reviews from fans and media and Hitchcock himself. That lasted two weeks.
Always hope for the best for him, but, let's just see.
Conversely anybody who saw his home ice performance against Boston in which he was first star and dominated the game would think he's a superstar in this league. Had a goal and an assist, was setting up Duchene all night and 2-3 of which were outstanding plays, and also hit a crossbar and had another goal called back that one replay showed went over the line. Yak had around 6 shots in that game that he absolutely wired that the goalie had a hard time shaking off.This wouldn't be a thread if everyone watched his 2 'goals' from game 1.
Colorado is first in the league standings and Yakopov is one of their top point producers. Awesome asset management from the Oilers
The situation CHANGED in STL. They were anticipating a good start, being able to cruise into the playoffs, but instead struggled out of the gate and thus putting pressure on Hitchcock to try to save his own job and go different ways. Yak went from producing to not playing much or being buried in bottomsix. Circumstantially, the Blues went a different way.
Whats harder to understand is a draft team that benches Yak 2 games into the season after his rookie season in which he led the team in scoring and has a player killer coach that decides arbitrarily to make Yak a target.
The Org even sees a resurrection in the player after the firing of the divisive Eakins and he has life with Derek Roy as Center and Nelson as coach. The Oilers do what the Oilers do, and immediately can both of them. Yak goes on to play well with McD but is removed from that assignment and then sunk back down the lineup by a coach with a history of going with Vets. Yak flounders with a defensive Center that had 5 EV assists all year, Eberle gets the plum assignment with McD, Yak gets dealt, then Eberle gets dealt anyway.
In effect the Oilers went the other way, tried to resurrect Eberle's game traded him regardless, and lost Yak too. They lost two talented wingers both of which could be better than what they have in the lineup now.
How impossible would it have been for the Oilers to rotate players like Eberle and Yak with McD to warm them both up. Playing every game with McD is taxing and demanding due to how hard it is to keep up with the kid and attempt to play commensurate with his level.
Unfortunately the Oilers not making the most out of players continues.