Blues acquire Yakupov

[gaijin]

In exchange for Zach Pochiro and a conditional 2017 3rd rounder.

https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/blues-ac ... -282479402

[Krigloch the Furious]

This good?

Sent from my R2 unit

[gaijin]

This good?

Sent from my R2 unit

I... don't know.

He is a former #1 pick, but is coming off an 8-goal season. At least we didn't give up much, so I would say it's a plus. Maybe he'll click with Tank.

[Krigloch the Furious]

He played with Edmonton.. so that's something

Sent from my R2 unit

[glen a richter]

We're putting together a nice collection of Oilers busts.

[dmiles2186]

From the reaction I'm reading, Edmonton just completely bungled how they handled him and eventually saddled him with 4th liners. I like it. We give up nothing for a dude who was #1 overall. We put him in the right situation here, with a fellow Russian in Tarasenko, and maybe the Blues can unlock that potential.

[Toasted Oates]

I like it as well, but an interesting perspective to consider:

The best line to ever describe Nail Yakupov sounds mean spirited, but in fact it describes his game to a ‘T.’

“He plays like a guy being chased by a swarm of bees,” someone once said.

All over the place, all the time. Now he’s in St. Louis, and in the annals of hockey lore, Yakupov sidles up next to Alexandre Daigle as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in National Hockey League history.

Of course the Edmonton Oilers chose him.

Offensively, defensively, off the ice with his teammates… Nobody ever knew where to find Nail Yakupov. There was no system he could follow, no traditional path to success he could be led down.

Coach after coach told him where to go to support the puck, but when support was required he was somewhere else. They ringed the puck around the boards to the place he was supposed to be, but Yakupov was never there when it arrived, for reasons unknown.

They coached him on where to go when the puck was in the offensive zone, but too often when his centreman looked up to pass him the puck, he was elsewhere. It was like he had learned only to score as a junior in Sarnia, but somehow never to play hockey.

Teammates invited him to dinner with the boys. He most often had something else to do.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oile ... pov-trade/

Despite all of that Canadian angst, it's not unreasonable to think he could blossom with the change of scenery. Plus, he bumps Paajarvi out of the lineup which is a godsend in of itself.

A good, practical trade. When Schwartz comes back, the top 9 won't have a lot of muscle (and will have Lehtera and Bergy) but it's actually palatable.

You know what you have w/ Sobotka. At least w/ Yakupov, the ceiling is still high. Reckless indeed.

[glen a richter]

He seems uncoachable but maybe I'm wrong. Could have just been Edmonton, but we've seen this movie with Paajarvi. I'm not especially optmistic. 10 goals, 15 assists in 63 games. A lot of press box for loafing.

[theohall]

I like it as well, but an interesting perspective to consider:

The best line to ever describe Nail Yakupov sounds mean spirited, but in fact it describes his game to a ‘T.’

“He plays like a guy being chased by a swarm of bees,” someone once said.

All over the place, all the time. Now he’s in St. Louis, and in the annals of hockey lore, Yakupov sidles up next to Alexandre Daigle as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in National Hockey League history.

Of course the Edmonton Oilers chose him.

Offensively, defensively, off the ice with his teammates… Nobody ever knew where to find Nail Yakupov. There was no system he could follow, no traditional path to success he could be led down.

Coach after coach told him where to go to support the puck, but when support was required he was somewhere else. They ringed the puck around the boards to the place he was supposed to be, but Yakupov was never there when it arrived, for reasons unknown.

They coached him on where to go when the puck was in the offensive zone, but too often when his centreman looked up to pass him the puck, he was elsewhere. It was like he had learned only to score as a junior in Sarnia, but somehow never to play hockey.

Teammates invited him to dinner with the boys. He most often had something else to do.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oile ... pov-trade/

Despite all of that Canadian angst, it's not unreasonable to think he could blossom with the change of scenery. Plus, he bumps Paajarvi out of the lineup which is a godsend in of itself.

A good, practical trade. When Schwartz comes back, the top 9 won't have a lot of muscle (and will have Lehtera and Bergy) but it's actually palatable.

You know what you have w/ Sobotka. At least w/ Yakupov, the ceiling is still high. Reckless indeed.

He'll be on the bench in favor of Paajarvi before October is over if he can't be where he is supposed to be - especially on a Hithcock coached team.

If Todd McClellan couldn't coach him, I don't see how the combination of Hitchcock and Yeo will do any better.

Weak practice habits, weak hockey sense, and a puck-watcher. Not a good combination for a forward on a Hitchcock team.

This trade smells of desperation due to lack of depth and wanting "talent" to improve the depth. The dreaded Hitchcock qoute "All he’s got to do is fit in. We just need a player that can fit in.” Well, he couldn't fit in ever in Edmonton, what makes Hitch think he will magically "fit in" with the Blues.

Hope I'm wrong.

Scroll down to see images of Yakupov's lack of awareness

[Toasted Oates]

Right, but the bad habits of a few young Oilers was alluded to in this column as well.

Look, I agree about the coaching and that Hitchcock can't change him on his self proclaimed elite coaching prowess alone. Todd McClellan is no bum.

My hope is that the habits of some of the vet forwards like Stastny or Steen can trickle down to him. Say what you will about Stastny, but he has been a good two way player here and was tremendous in the playoffs in that regard. Steen is a Selke contender when healthy.

It's one thing for the coach to say it, but may hit home coming from his teammates. There was a lot of freelancing from everyone in Edmonton.

If it doesn't, well, the Blues payed a low price.

[cardsfan04]

I see this as a low risk, potentially high reward trade. We gave up a prospect that's not close to the NHL and a mid round pick for a former number 1 overall pick. If it doesn't work, we won't regret this. If it does work, we hit the jackpot for a really small price. Maybe a change of scenery will work.

[Kerfuffle]

From the reaction I'm reading, Edmonton just completely bungled how they handled him and eventually saddled him with 4th liners. I like it. We give up nothing for a dude who was #1 overall. We put him in the right situation here, with a fellow Russian in Tarasenko, and maybe the Blues can unlock that potential.

He may do better out of Edmonton with new scenery and that's the plus side. But you can also see how far his trade stock has fallen. As a #1 overall pick he's already been written off as a bust. But the Blues didn't have to give up much to get him so it's a low risk move. We had Cam Barker as the #3 overall pick and he was a bust too so draft position doesn't really matter.

[cprice12]

Low risk, high reward...and we prevented Chicago from getting him. So there is that.
The knocks on Yakupov could be said about half of the Oilers lineup. So we'll see how he is here once the season starts and once he/if he acclimates to the system here.
If he doesn't work out, he doesn't work out. We really didn't lose anything.
I like the move. Solid role of the dice by Army.

[theohall]

What's not being said..

1) All of those other Oilers players with similar issues were getting better under McClellan while Yakupov seemingly never even tried.

2) While this is low risk high potential reward, it speaks to the serious lack of depth in the organization at forward for this season. There isn't anyone close to NHL ready to fill-in from Chicago if there are multiple injuries at forward.

[Oaklandblue]

1) All of those other Oilers players with similar issues were getting better under McClellan while Yakupov seemingly never even tried.

The team got so much better that the Oilers were one point away from being the worst team in the league. If you had talent and no matter how hard you played, how much you scored or how much of yourself you left on the ice, the end result was that your team was at the bottom of the pack year after year after decade after decade, you'd eventually say screw it and do nothing because what's the point. Management has destroyed the identity of the Oilers and has instilled none of the dynasty or history of the team into the ethics of it's players. That said, yes McClellan, IF he stays with the team long enough, will instill it in them, but I think he'll be fired long before they get anywhere with it.

I don't blame Yak at all for that.

That said, my prediction is that Yak will explode and replace Backes' production easily. Mind, he is on a one-year deal for peanuts, has a lot to prove, is playing on a team where Defense is their religion and will have ample opportunity to prove he's a beast and I truly believe Yak is the beast we are looking for. I am more concerned what his post season contract will look like because he's a keeper. You read it here first.

[Kerfuffle]

Low risk, high reward...and we prevented Chicago from getting him. So there is that.

We wouldn't have had the cap room and for a guy who only scored 8 goals I'd rather give one of our prospects a chance. It's a low risk signing by the Blues for one year - and the upside is he wants to prove he can still play at an NHL level and get a new contract - so he's incentivized to do well. If he becomes a player like Tank then it becomes a steal for one year. But right now he looks like Ryan Leaf to me.

[Oaklandblue]

Low risk, high reward...and we prevented Chicago from getting him. So there is that.

We wouldn't have had the cap room and for a guy who only scored 8 goals I'd rather give one of our prospects a chance. It's a low risk signing by the Blues for one year - and the upside is he wants to prove he can still play at an NHL level and get a new contract - so he's incentivized to do well. If he becomes a player like Tank then it becomes a steal for one year. But right now he looks like Ryan Leaf to me.

Ryan Leaf was an amazing talent. His talent was never the issue, his injuries were

[WaukeeBlues]

The more I let this deal marinate the more I like it. There's really no downside, we gave up next to nothing.

The Blues are in desperate need of secondary scoring help and this can only be a plus. There's no expectations really, no pressure on the kid, he can just go play hockey now. The eyes of the hockey world aren't on him. Maybe he can turn it around. Maybe he's ruined and he's the new Daigle.

Either way we didn't surrender much to find out.

[glen a richter]

Here's part of why I'm irritated... and I'll eat my hat if Yak goes on to greatness. We could have had Hall for Shatty except 22 didn't want to extend for Edmonton, understandably. They turn around and trade Hall for next to nothing and now Yak for next to nothing. Is it beyond the realm of reality we could have gotten RNH for Pochiro and a good prospect? Edmonton is clearly selling low because God knows they can't afford all these top 5 picks they've drafted and all we could do was a guy with a bad rep as a likely 1st round bust and suspect work habits?

[cardsfan04]

Here's part of why I'm irritated... and I'll eat my hat if Yak goes on to greatness. We could have had Hall for Shatty except 22 didn't want to extend for Edmonton, understandably. They turn around and trade Hall for next to nothing and now Yak for next to nothing. Is it beyond the realm of reality we could have gotten RNH for Pochiro and a good prospect? Edmonton is clearly selling low because God knows they can't afford all these top 5 picks they've drafted and all we could do was a guy with a bad rep as a likely 1st round bust and suspect work habits?

I don't think they're equivalent situations. They moved Hall for a young defenseman because of need. They moved Yakupov because he needed a change of scenery and they wanted some sort of return on their former number 1 overall pick. I doubt that RNH is even available right now.

I get what you're saying though. We almost had one of their top young guys, but instead we ended up with Yakupov. But, I like the trade in a vacuum which is how I'm looking at it.