According to a number of Hockey media sources, Nail Yakupov has been traded to the St Louis Blues. The return is a 2017 3rd round pick and Zach Pochiro, a 22 year old Las Vegas native who weighs in at 6’2″, 170 lbs.
The much-maligned Yakupov has spent years not quite living up to the potential of a number one draft pick, but whether that’s his own fault or the fault of the coaching staff is yet to be decided.
While there’s no question that Yak is a talented hockey player, it often felt like he was either misused or underused in most situations. The best look we got at Yakupov was early last season when he played with Connor McDavid, and we knew that he could do the things expected of him.
With the Taylor Hall trade in June and now the Yakupov deal, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is really putting his stamp on the team; it’s seemingly only a matter of time before he trades the *other* first overall picks in the name of grit and toughness.
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