Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
It's actually kind of sad to see this when it happens to a prospect. I am not sad to see it happen to Edmonton, but just in general when a prospect mails it in.
In junior, Yakupov really was a beast. He looked like he had all the tools to be a complete player and he played with heart. Now that he is getting paid, it seems like he stopped trying. Maybe he didn't realize how hard the NHL is... I'm not sure what the reason is, but it is such a waste.
It's not too late for him to turn it around, but I wonder if he will.
OT, but since some people are bashing Lowe anyway... I met an Oilers fan a couple of weekends ago and he started ribbing me about trading Iginla last season (which that in itself was weird since most people agree that it was time). I responded by asking him when the Oilers were finally going to get rid of Lowe and hire someone who knows what they are doing.. His response was totally serious and he said; "Why would they? Lowe is one of the most respected people in hockey."....
I couldn't even laugh because I felt kind of sorry for him that some people in Oilerland still feel that way after everything.
|
There are a lot of players who's skill sets make them own junior hockey, but in the NHL a players mental state is just as important or more important. Gordon Bombay completely owned peewee and he had the unstopable triple deke. What happened to him in the pros? The first guy with more determination then him completely ended his career and years later he was playing Wolf Stansson in a game of cross bar for lunch.
could Nail's future be coaching the Moscow District 5 peewee team?
Skills are great, but that only gives you one dimension, Nail seems to lack the other two dimensions, and that's his mental toughness and his play without the puck in all three zones. Out of all of the big Oilers, the Halls, RNH, Eberle, Nail is the one that seems to have the smallest mental gas tank.
The argument is that he won the rookie scoring race and that means great things. But up until the 3 game hot streak in mean nothing games, he was considered to be ok but not great.
Oiler fans think he's got some mystical value right now. But NHL scouts and GM's are pretty cagey guys right now, and they're not looking at him as a bright light, they're looking at him as a project. His value is probably fairly low, he's not going to get you a top flight defenseman or goalie. The smart thing for the Oilers to do is pray that he turns his game around, and increase his value and move him. Unless they've decided that he's toxic and he has to go.
Maybe Nail needs to work on his triple deke too.