"He really does care and he really wants to contribute and you can see the passion involved," Brodziak said. "You see flashes of it here and there where he makes say, 'Wow.' Some of the things he does are impressive, but I'm sure he just wants to do that more often. You've got to stay patient. The way we want to play the game. You want to be aggressive, but you've also got to wait for your right opportunities. It's going to be a learning process for him.

"I'm sure he wants to be in every night and help, but I think sometimes it's important if you don't feel like you're playing your best hockey to take a day or two and have a chance to reset. Hopefully he'll make the best of it, have a chance to work on some things after practice and gain some confidence back and just have a chance to reset mentally."

Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo echoed Brodziak's comments and added that Yakupov can still be a contributing part to this club.