Nail Yakupov scores his first goal against the Edmonton Oilers (Video)
By David Rouben
Nail Yakupov scored in his first game against his former team, and he celebrated it as if he had just won the Stanley Cup.
When the Edmonton Oilers drafted Connor McDavid, that should’ve meant they’d be on their way to contending for a Cup. But as long as they have GMs who make dumb trades, they’ll never escape the NHL’s basement.
Just this offseason, the Oilers traded two former first overall picks in Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov in exchange for popcorn and movie tickets. Of course, the biggest reason Yakupov netted such a low return on investment is because playing on the Oilers sucked him dry of his trade value. Nobody would be interested in a -78 player, but it’s hard to be a plus player on a team that’s so devoid of defense.
Yakupov, however, has enjoyed his time in St. Louis. He gets to play on a line with Robby Fabbri and Paul Stastny, and is anchored by All-Star defensemen in Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo. He scored in just his second game in a Blues uniform, but he definitely had his return date against the Edmonton Oilers circled on his calendar.
In his return to Edmonton, not only did he score, he let all of his emotions out in his celebration:
In four seasons with Edmonton, Yakupov never scored more than 33 points in a season. Considering he was drafted first overall, that’s hugely disappointing. The only time he began to resemble a high-end forward was last season when he played with McDavid, but he still finished with an unimpressive 23 points.
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But now that Yakupov is away from a toxic environment, and playing with a team that can provide real defensive support, expect his numbers to skyrocket. The Oilers traded Yakupov and Hall to bolster their defense, but they’ve still given up 16 goals in their first five games. Even though tanking is meant to improve teams, the Oilers are living proof that some things just never change.