Don't get me wrong, I love all our kids, I think nuge can perhaps be better than yakupov in terms of potential......but how about this kid? He seems to be getting better every game, he's handling the puck much butter, HE FINISHES HIS CHECKS!!!! (Dear lord thank you for sending us this blessing), and guess what? he's dedicated, he has intensity on every shift.
Theres alot of things this kid is doing right, more right than wrong in my opinion.
What i'm saying is i'm really happy we selected this kid, he's got an awesome attitude that we desperately need here.
btw did anyone see his cele after gagner scored? hahahah kid loves this game like crazy
People are going to get on him about defense, and I'm not saying he's as good as Bure, but I remember that guy skating around the other team's blue line waving his stick. Scorers want to score, and if you do that everything else is bonus
Very premature to say that IMO. His rookie season to date isn't that incredibly impressive TBH.
Nash Gaborik Marleau Semin Stamkos Havlat M. Michalek all had similar rookie years... not really worried yet... he is going to be a 40-goal guy... at least... if he's not a difference maker by this time next year maybe we start to panic a bit...
Very premature to say that IMO. His rookie season to date isn't that incredibly impressive TBH.
perhaps it premature, but here in edmonton, we've become experts on young players and their general trend.
There's things I see in yakupovs game that I haven't seen in the other kids, For exmaple tonight, instead of panicing and throwing the puck on net, he skated between some red wings to find the open zone, which shows he really knows how to get to open areas
perhaps it premature, but here in edmonton, we've become experts on young players and their general trend.
There's things I see in yakupovs game that I haven't seen in the other kids, For exmaple tonight, instead of panicing and throwing the puck on net, he skated between some red wings to find the open zone, which shows he really knows how to get to open areas
He seems like he gets to the open areas when he has the puck, but not when he is looking for that one timer. He will adapt and start finding those seams a little more often.
Hugely talented player. I was blown away the first time I watched him in person at Millenium place in Prospects camp. Head and shoulders the most explosive, dynamic, prospect I've seen here in 20yrs. The last one that dominated that much was Jason Arnott and he was a great player until we rode him hard and put him away wet for a couple years. The Oilers nearly ruined Arnott for hockey. Kid had immense pressure and was being expected to carry the team.
We're doing it much differently with Yak and bringing him along slowly which ultimately is better for him.
Still, in this 20 game stretch I think you have to let the horse run free and throw minutes at him. He's thoroughbred and only gets better with more minutes. People haven't even seen this kid totally wound up yet. Guy plays better the longer he's out there and he's one of those guys that looks pretty normal early but the longer the game goes on he just starts owning. Thats the kind of player he will be.
Yak and Hall are going to be the two most talented players on this team, IMO. Yak should be the leading scorer in a couple of years and years to come. Yak's desire and enthusiasm for the game is much needed in Edmonton, hopefully it is not reined in one bit. Let him loose.
Very premature to say that IMO. His rookie season to date isn't that incredibly impressive TBH.
People don't understand the type of player he can be. This is a guy that will cloak into scoring positions ala Brett Hull and has a killer shot that we haven't seen much of yet. The thing is with Yak is he can have the puck on his stick for maybe only a minute in a game and score two goals. When he starts finding his range and timing here look out. Elite talent.
Hall is going to be more consistent, and I'll still go with Hall, but Yak will be an explosive player and like Hall rounding into a powerforward type player. Lets remember Yak being a rookie and all and doing this much with limited minutes. He's not getting the special ops the uberkids on this team have gotten. He's still producting pretty well and contributing. On the Gagner goal Hall and Yak basically created a goal out of nothing. Just fierce determination from both to get the puck to a scoring area.
btw this may be one of the most special games I've seen from Hall. Detroit played better tonight then they are getting credit for. Hall had a playoff type performance tonight from the opening whistle.
Nah. Hall is/will be better. Donno about after that though!
I don't even care. With two guys who need to win as badly as Yak and Hall, at least we can rest on the fact that we should be coming out of the tank soon.
The one great thing is his attitude. He's a great kid who really wants to get better and help his team. I think he'll become a great scoring winger who's able enough defensively not to be a big liability. I'm thinking someone like a Kovalchuk or Markus Naslund. Maybe that's setting the sights too high, but I think he has the raw skill to be a player of that calibre in time.
Don't think he'll be quite as good as Hall, but he'll be right there with him as the first line right winger of this franchise for the next decade. He just needs experience, strength, and the trust of the coach, all of which will come in time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Replacement
The last one that dominated that much was Jason Arnott and he was a great player until we rode him hard and put him away wet for a couple years. The Oilers nearly ruined Arnott for hockey. Kid had immense pressure and was being expected to carry the team.
The Oilers didn't do anything to Arnott, he was a classic case of "physically mature, mentally immature" in an era when franchises didn't put as much work into protecting their assets(Pronger is another example from that time, albeit from an even worse franchise). He was overhyped for sure and there was a lot of pressure, but he also had Weight putting up 100 point seasons on the top line in front of him.
The real problem was his inability to deal with super stardom at such a young age, it wasn't until the nightlife started to distract from the hockey that the knives really came out in Edmonton. He was fine in NJ after he had a chance to mature a bit, and would have been fine in Edmonton if the tabloid sports reporters didn't salt the earth against him while he was still here.
The Oilers didn't do anything to Arnott, he was a classic case of "physically mature, mentally immature" in an era when franchises didn't put as much work into protecting their assets
I prefer the earlier years. When the elder (30+) family man Fogolin took them under his wings. Gretzky was respectable - the majority of the rest were party animals. Some were pulled over by the police many times (i.e. the Davie Hunter Special)...
In those days, management only got involved on request or when the police were involved. Their priority was to create a winning team - that philosophy worked quite well...
Too soon to tell, I agree. Even though the kid can *SNIPE*. He reminds me ALOT of Ovechkin. I know that may be bad in some regards to. I think Hall or Eberle will turn out to be the Captain = Most likely the best. Every player has there own knact/thing.
Hallsy: Speed/Can Control A Game
Ebs: All Around Good Player/Sniper
RNH: All Around Good Player/Playmaker
Yaky: Sniper/Learning Defence
J. Schultz = Explosive OFD/underrated Defensive plays at times
I think Yakupov will turn out to be our best Pure Goal Scorer/Sniper but to soon to tell if he'll be the best. The kid has sure grown on me though, I love all the Oilers forsure but he's probably my 2nd fave after Ebs.
He still has a lot of junior in him but once he figures himself out he'll be really really good, probably the highest ceiling of all the kids. That talent combined with that desire should be something. I actually think he could be pretty good on the PK as well once he matures a bit, great intensity just needs to learn how to get into lanes, could pot some SH goals in that role.
Contrary to what the talking heads say about his attitude problem, I think one of the biggest problems with Yak right now is that he is too nice, and too sensitive to criticism.
He's out there having fun, but more than anyone I can remember breaking into the league recently he is just an overgrown kid. Very innocent, happy-go-lucky way about him. I don't want to say he needs to grow up, because it's refreshing to see someone like Yak and that enthusiasm will always serve him well. But once he learns the way around the NHL world, gains some familiarity with players/systems/teams/rinks/etc., and gets past the asinine media scrutiny, that swagger will serve him well.
He's got everything he needs to be an effective power forward, he just needs the game to slow down and the chops to be 'the enemy.'
And as far as the scoring goes his points-per-game is still roughly equal with Stamkos' rookie year, who was leaned on much more heavily. The Oilers are taking a slower Seguin-ish approach with him--and Yak's still just 7 points from tying Seguin's rookie mark.
Too soon to tell, I agree. Even though the kid can *SNIPE*. He reminds me ALOT of Ovechkin. I know that may be bad in some regards to. I think Hall or Eberle will turn out to be the Captain = Most likely the best. Every player has there own knact/thing.
Hallsy: Speed/Can Control A Game
Ebs: All Around Good Player/Sniper
RNH: All Around Good Player/Playmaker
Yaky: Sniper/Learning Defence
J. Schultz = Explosive OFD/underrated Defensive plays at times
I think Yakupov will turn out to be our best Pure Goal Scorer/Sniper but to soon to tell if he'll be the best. The kid has sure grown on me though, I love all the Oilers forsure but he's probably my 2nd fave after Ebs.
This. And you can put Kovulchuk in there as well. All 3 of these players are explosive and dynamic but how much are they going to help you win?
Don't get me wrong, I do love Yak's enthusiasm and he obviously is extremely talented, but I'll take two Taylor Hall's all day long before one Taylor Hall and one Nail Yakupov.
This is the equivalent of the Tambo grin. All we need now is a fade-in gif version.
