Who on the Oilers is there that can take Yak under his wing to provide leadership and guidance? Ference.. and who?
Anyone remember Yakupov's scouting reports? One thing I really loved about his game was the mention of him being a very aggressive fore checker (and good back checker) who went and got the puck himself when he didn't have it. I believe at the Ivan Hlinka tournament he turned a lot of heads with his aggressive play.
Now look at the Oilers. Here is a kid surrounded by kids who obviously don't play a 200ft game, but have been HIGHLY rewarded by the organization for their offensive contributions mostly. 6 million dollar long-term deals. Players that STILL don't play a 200ft game with any real sense of the word. Sure, he can go and back check, but why? Is it going to get him one of those contracts by trading a bit of his offensive ability in making sure his defensive game helps the team win, when nobody else seems to be willing to do it?
Sure, criticize this young kid for not 'wanting' or 'caring' to do it, but when he is sitting on the bench watching the highly-paid and heralded Hall, Eberle and RNH not exactly making the effort to do it themselves, why should he? I bet you put him on any team with a better culture, he WILL be a pretty decent 200ft player with a high-offensive ability.
|