If only because of his first name, I hope the Edmonton Oilers draft Nail Yakupov.
Now it will be up to them, and only them, to decide if Yakupov will be the first overall choice in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The Oilers can make the call after another Columbus loss led to an Edmonton win and the first overall selection. I guess the 18.8 per cent odds of moving up from number two to number one aren’t so bad after the Blue Jackets’ 48.2 per cent wasn’t enough to hang onto the top spot in the upcoming draft.
Which brings us to Yakupov. As far as I can find, there has never been another player with the first name Nail to play in the NHL. It opens up so many opportunities and headlines.
Here are just a few. Yakupov "Hit the Nail on the Head." When he delivers a bone crunching hit, he "Nail’ed him." If Yakupov scores the goal that sends his team to victory, that was the "Final Nail in the coffin." Playing against him is as painful as "Nails on a chalkboard.” This kid doesn’t mind going into high traffic areas and getting "Dirt under his finger Nails." He wants to score so bad that to do so he’ll fight "Tooth and Nail."
OK enough of that. What I like more than his name is his game. In 65 of them last year he had 101 points. Forty-three of those were goals, setting a Sarnia rookie record, which isn’t bad considering Steven Stamkos was recently a member of the Sting.
This year, injuries limited him to 69 points in 42 games but he still had 31 goals. This kid loves to score but what concerns me are some of the other numbers. Yakupov is listed at 5’11" and 190 pounds. Edmonton already has 5’11”, 184-pound Jordan Eberle, 5’11”, 195-pound Sam Gagner, 6’0″, 195-pound Taylor Hall and 6’1″, 175-pound Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. You see what I’m getting at here?
Then there’s Mikhail Grigorenko, who doesn’t have the showmanship or pizzazz that Yakupov comes by more naturally. Here are some things that I naturally like about the other highly-rated Russian: he’s 6’3″, 200 pounds, he’s more of a passer and his first-year numbers with the Quebec Remparts showed his abilities as a rookie with an 85-point season in 59 games.
This next point would have been better served if the Vancouver Canucks had won the Cup but the trend when it comes to those sipping out of Lord Stanley’s mug is to have a 1-2 punch in the middle. Detroit has Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, Chicago is led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Canucks have Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler. I know this is more than a quarter century ago but Edmonton was built around two centres named Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.
Ryan Murray, the defenceman from Everett, is an option but I don’t think he’s an option in the number one slot. Now if Edmonton decides to move down a notch or two or three then that’s a different story. Let’s say Columbus offers Jack Johnson and the number two pick for the first overall choice, Edmonton could have its top-end defenceman they so desperately need and they could then draft one of the Russian forwards or possibly consider Murray.
Unlike the 2010 and 2011 drafts when anything short of Sidney Crosby would have resulted in a dropped call from Steve Tambellini, the upcoming number one pick is available to be gained through trade. It might take more pieces with Edmonton also sending something back for a potential suitor, but there is a chance Edmonton doesn’t actually draft first overall three years in a row like Quebec did in 1989, 1990 and 1991.
On June 22nd at the draft in Pittsburgh, we’ll find out what Edmonton decides to do. Suffice to say, whether they use the pick or trade it, the decision will go a long way in determining whether next year’s playoff hopes could end up being "Dead as a Door Nail."