Attempts to revitalize a career that began with much promise and fanfare proved too difficult for former top pick Nail Yakupov, who after six mediocre seasons between three NHL teams signed a one-year contract with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg last week.

The affair between the NHL and the young right wing played out more like a summer fling than a marriage, with infrequent periods of promise that eventually proved to be more exhaustive than they were exciting. At this point, Yakupov’s zenith as an NHL player was his rookie season in 2012-13 in which he scored 31 points within a strike-shortened 48-game schedule, and his 350 games played are the least of any inactive forward picked first overall since the draft was instituted in 1963.

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For all his shortcomings as a hockey player, however, the 24-year-old Yakupov remains a spirited player with an unquestionable love for the game. His zeal made him likable, and Yakupov somehow managed to convince most fans that his constant buzzing around from shift to shift was far more controlled that it actually was. It’s for these reasons why so many of his supporters cling to the idea that it was the league, particularly the Oilers, who failed Yakupov rather than the other way around.

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Yet still, teams weren’t buying the nice-guy sales pitch. Both the Blues and Avalanche after one season declined to give Yakupov a qualifying offer, which is a technical sounding way of saying he simply wasn’t wanted. The blame game can only continue for so long after three teams in three years show you the door.

Yakupov probably realized that, thus explaining the rapidity of his signing with SKA just two days after becoming an eligible free agent. It seems like the kid wanted to play in his native Russia more than anywhere else, even if the cost was cementing his name in NHL infamy.

Before we put the final stamp on what could be the end of Yakupov’s NHL career, there are three questions that require a little research and analysis.

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Was Yakupov’s NHL career as bad as other notable draft busts?

The debate over whether Yakupov is the biggest bust in NHL draft history certainly picked up steam once the KHL news broke. But it would have taken a Herculean effort on his part to not only land an NHL job that offered a regular shift, but also to produce any better than he ever had before. This is a former first overall pick we’re talking about, and a 31-point rookie season as a high-water mark automatically puts Yakupov in the running for worst draft selection in NHL history.

But was he a bad pick? Hindsight easily tells us he was. His numbers were beyond paltry for the average NHL player, let along one that was chosen at the very top of his draft class. In comparison to other underachieving forwards taken with the first pick in the draft, Yakupov still appears to have an uphill climb to safely distance him from the distinction of being the worst of the worst. Helping his case is that he played in an era far more goal-starved than the run-and-shoot 1980s that included both Dough Wickenheiser (1980) and Brian Lawton (1983).

Fewest points by a No. 1 overall draft pick (inactive forwards)

PLAYER DRAFT GP G PTS PTS/G ERA ADJ. P/G* Nail Yakupov 2012 350 62 136 0.39 0.50 Patrik Stefan 1999 455 64 188 0.41 0.45 Brian Lawton 1983 483 112 266 0.55 0.45 Doug Wickenheiser 1980 556 111 276 0.50 0.40 Alexandre Daigle 1993 616 129 327 0.53 0.60

* via Hockey Reference

Factors be damned, Yakupov’s low point totals are exactly that — low. Sure, he would have produced more had he played regularly with Connor McDavid, but you’ll soon find out that privilege was something Yakupov did very little to earn. A successful run in the KHL and a possible redemption tour in the NHL appear to be the only two things that would help remove him from the top of such a dubious list.

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Was Yakupov the wrong choice at No. 1 overall?

At the time of the 2012 draft, Yakupov was an elite prospect with a stranglehold on the top of all draft rankings, including being named the top North American prospect by NHL Central Scouting. Eight of the NHL scouts polled annually by TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie had Yakupov as the top pick, and practically all of the notable sources held the exact same view.

Why question their assessments? Yakupov was a standout for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, winning the league rookie of the year and placing among the top scorers in the two seasons leading up to the draft. He also proved himself at the international level, leading the 2011 under-18 world championships in points and tying for the most assists at the 2012 under-20 world junior championship. So in terms of a pre-draft resume, Yakupov’s certainly was befitting a prospect considered a candidate for the top pick. And although he was never viewed as a “generational” talent, none of the public scouting reports available at the time considered him a low-IQ player or one who would struggle mightily to land a permanent top-six job in the NHL.

Of course, it wasn’t until after Yakupov was traded that rumors began to circulate about the inner workings of Edmonton’s 2012 draft strategy. There is the belief that the overwhelming majority of Oilers scouts — nine of 11, to be exact — wanted then-Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini to draft defenseman Ryan Murray over the more heralded Yakupov. Why Tambellini chose Yakupov against the alleged wishes of his scouts remains a mystery that only a handful of people can (and likely won’t) answer.

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Still, stories like this from Sportsnet, published in 2016 after Yakupov’s final season in Edmonton, and other outlets were nowhere to be found in 2013 when Yakupov led the Oilers in goal scoring while Murray battled through shoulder issues for the second straight junior season.

Did the Oilers make a mistake with Yakupov? It didn’t feel like they did at the time at all. Remember, the 2012 draft crop was considerably weak at forward. Eight of the first 10 players picked were defensemen. Edmonton was in desperate need of quality defense prospects, and it’s safe to say the only thing that stopped them from choosing one in 2012 was the burden of being compelled to take another elite forward for the sixth straight draft.

Outside of trading down from the top slot, it’s doubtful any other GM with the first pick takes a player other than Yakupov. It’s ironic that a draft system designed to help downtrodden clubs build a brighter future was why Yakupov ended up an Oiler over the likes of competent (and needed) two-way defenders such as 2012 top 10 draftees Morgan Rielly, Matt Dumba and Jacob Trouba.

Did Dallas Eakins ruin Yakupov’s career?

One of the biggest mistakes a new boss can make is implement radical changes immediately rather than observe and assess the strengths and weaknesses of both the individual and the collective. A lot has been written on how Eakins overthought everything, and how his analytics-based theories on making the Oilers tactically competent were seemingly too complex for teenagers like Yakupov to grasp. But for all his faults, the one thing Eakins did correctly was properly identify the Oilers as a lax bunch uncommitted to winning both the physical and mental battles.

The losing culture in Edmonton become pervasively toxic in a hurry, and it seemed neither Eakins nor Yakupov were prepared to handle the first sign of real adversity, which hit the Oilers like a sledgehammer just a few weeks into the 2013-14 season. A common practice by a losing NHL coach is to shake up the bottom of the lineup before he makes changes to the top. So naturally, a string of early losses led to Yakupov’s benching before the Oilers even hit the 10-game mark.

Nail Yakupov usage relative to teammates (rank among forwards)

SEASON TEAM COACH OZ% (5v5) CF% (5v5) CF% Rel (5v5) 2012-13 Oilers Krueger 52.0 (3rd) 42.9 (11th) -5.3 (11th) 2013-14 Oilers Eakins 64.2 (1st) 45.0 (9th) -2.6 (11th) 2014-15 Oilers Eakins/Nelson 61.0 (t-5th) 46.7 (11th) -2.3 (11th) 2015-16 Oilers McLellan 52.6 (6th) 49.6 (7th) +0.2 (t-7th) 2016-17 Blues Hitchcock/Yeo 63.9 (3rd) 51.3 (5th) +1.3 (6th) 2017-18 Avalanche Bednar 54.2 (4th) 48.0 (t-7th) 0.0 (9th)

Source: Hockey Reference

Of course, the kid was far from blameless, as he opened the season with only one goal and three points in his first 16 games. Compounding issues was that Eakins sheltered Yakupov the same way as in his more successful rookie year — heavy on the offensive-zone starts and power play, not much anywhere else. The problem was that Yakupov in terms of both points and shot attempts made nothing out of his premium opportunities. In fact, the kid was a liability in all three zones.

"I don't really like playing without the puck, skate all the time and do forecheck and hit somebody every shift,” Yakupov said to reporters after an early-season loss. “I don't think it's my game."

It’s probably comments like those that made Eakins appear to hold Yakupov to a different standard when it came to mistakes, which Yakupov made a lot of. His leash was ridiculously short despite showing a willingness to make plays when they were needed. It didn’t always look pretty, however, and Yakupov was a turnover machine thanks to over-stickhandling and telegraphing his intentions. The player wanted to play more to show what he was capable of; the coach felt playing time was earned rather than given. Hard to fault Eakins when the goal scorer is not scoring goals, in addition to revealing poor hockey sense and the inability to outperform his teammates.

In the end, neither individual lasted long in Edmonton. The idea that a fresh start with a new team would help Yakupov reach his potential proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking, as the aforementioned stops in St. Louis and Colorado were both brief and rife with instances of sloppy play and the inability to develop any sort of chemistry with his linemates. He may have turned into a slightly reliable player in his own end, but Yakupov’s inability to bury the puck probably is the biggest reason why he is no longer in the league.