12 Days Of The Oilers Rig Christmas-More Goals From Yak

Dear Santa:

All I want for Christmas this year is something so simple, even you can gift it! I just want more goals from Nail Yakupov!!!

Now Yak had a god awful start to the season, 2 healthy scratches and demotion to the third and fourth lines didn’t help. It seemed to wake him up a little bit, allowing himself to see the game from a different perspective in the press box. Then the Igor Larionov incident happened and it was blown up EVERYWHERE, more so then it should have ever been, but that was wakeup call #2 for Nail. I noticed he seemed to take a little more responsibility for his play, back checked a little harder, cut down on the fly by’s past the defenseman, and seemed to loosen up the grip on his stick. It looked as if the points and goals were starting to come for him, he was happier and was playing better and as a result Eakins was giving him more ice time and PP time as well.

Now Yaks game isn’t quite sound yet, as it shouldnt be, he hasn’t even played 82 games yet. He still has a lot of things to work on especially in the defensive zone. Once he can “NAIL” things down, the offence will come, he has to team himself some patience and to not get antsy with the puck. There isn’t very many players that can break into the zone with speed, stop on a dime with one skate, shield the puck and keep the play moving. He is a guy who likes to keep his feet moving in the offensive zone, and he’s always looking to create something. For a kid that small and that wound up all the time, he possesses such an amazing release and a rocket of a one timer, they are both hard, fast shots that when they get through are hard to stop. With that being said, he needs to shoot more, he has the ability to shoot like Ovechkin or Kovalchuk, yet he hesitates to shoot, no confidence maybe? He is someone who should be shooting 7-8 times a game, no matter where he is on the ice, you don’t score if you don’t shoot, you may not have the greatest shooting percentage but the more you shoot the more you are likely to score.

The power play has struggled severely as of late,and i have supported Eakins through and through, but this isn’t one of the things I agree with him on. He continues to put Gagner out on the PP, if I have to watch him funnel the puck from the half wall down to the goal line one more time, only for him to get it back and have a shooting lane…but to pass it one more time, I am going to lose it! I am fine with RNH on the PP of course, but he shouldn’t be on the right half wall, Yak should be there every game no matter what, he holds a shot that no one has on this team and a release no one has on this team. If they want him to start to score more, give him the chances on the PP, and when he’s on the PP try to work the PP through him, there are too many times I watch him, cocked and ready for the one timer and they pass it off down low again. There is less risk for him to shoot from there and get blocked because its most likely going to ricochet and hit the boards and we can recover easier.

Now I know the kid and his agent stirred up some controversy, but he doesn’t deserve a lump of coal! He has been working his tail off, his passion and drive and determination for the game are levels higher than most. He is still a kid and will learn the ways, we can’t give up on him now. Lets give him some consistent minutes with some consistent line mates and let him find his magic again. I know ive been hard on him, but its time to ease up and give the kid some space!

Sincerely,

Madison Moroz

Let me know what you think on twitter @madi39

Merry Christmas Everyone!