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Remenda then got to the money quote about Yakupov: “I think he’s also got to be a better practice player…I know I talk about this a lot. I know they think I’m a broken record. But we’ve seen Nail Yakupov kind of check out at practice. And he’s got to be better, more focused, determined in practice, because that does 100 per cent transfer over to the game.”

Host Bob Stauffer mentioned when Yakupov first came to the Oilers he was often last man on the ice after practice, but during the course of last year appeared to give up.

“I agree,” Remenda said. “We saw a few players check out. We saw a few players check out the year before that. Some of it has to do with how the year went. Were they injured? Were they up and down? Were they being used the way they thought they should have been used? We saw players do that. And coaches try to jump on that. But guys will check out on them. It’s just human nature: Well, this guy is not using me the way I need to be used so screw this. I’m going to go skate over here and do this. We’ve seen that. It takes a real special player, it takes a mentally strong player, to go, ‘I got to go listen to my coach. I got to go seek some information on what they want me to do and so I can prove myself. I tell you what, I’ll prove myself to be up on that line.’ Players think of it the other way, Bob. Players think of it, ‘If you put me on that line I’ll show you what I’ve got.’ … For coaches, it’s the exact opposite thinking.”

My take

First off, a strong interview in that it finally clarified some of the whispering about Yakupov. We now know with some certainty (the only thing more certain would be McLellan naming him by name) that Yakupov’s attitude and practice habits were an issue last year and likely a major issue. Yakupov had the weirdest minutes of almost any NHL last year. According to the outstanding HockeyAnalysis.com, he played 710 five-on-five minutes last year, 239 of them with perhaps the weakest five-on-five centre in the NHL, Mark Letestu, and 205 of them with perhaps the best five-on-five centre, Connor McDavid. So Yakupov jumped around between two extremes: feast, famine, feast, famine. Yakupov had nine points with McDavid last year, just one point playing with Letestu. Letestu is fourth-line centre, not a third-line centre, and if the coaches are down on Yakupov because he didn’t play well on that Letestu line, then consider this: Taylor Hall, Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Teddy Purcell and Leon Draisaitl played a total of 198 five-on-five minutes with Letestu last year. Not one of them had one single point in that time. The Oilers had just two drivers of play last year, McDavid and Hall. In terms of players who got the most minutes with one or the other, Leon Draisaitl led the way, spending 85 per cent of his even strength ice time with them (almost all of it with Hall). The next player who got choice minutes was Patrick Maroon, 82%. For forwards, Teddy Purcell was next, 56%, then Eberle, 48%, Benoit Pouliot, 41%, Nugent-Hopkins, 40% and Yakupov, 40%. So Yakupov had a lot of shifts where he might be expected to produce well, but 60% of the time, not so much.

Yakupov has been at best a mediocre two-way winger every year that’s he’s been in the NHL, including his rookie season when at least his offensive production was solid. That said, he has played well in spurts, especially when he was teamed with the right linemates, including Derek Roy in 2014-15 and McDavid last year. Yakupov is kidding himself if he thinks he can show anything less than a fanatical devotion to the game in practice and win over his coach. To succeed on the ice, Yakupov needs solid linemates, yes, but also needs to focus on playing an edgy, agitating, physical game, and making sure he works at least as hard on defence as he does on offence. If the Oilers are going to win, they need a different answer than Letestu when it comes to playing third-line centre. Letestu was signed as a fourth line/PK player and the more he strays from that role, the more likely it is Edmonton will lose. The team had better hope that Anton Lander or Jujhar Khaira is ready to step up as a third-line centre in case of injury, because it’s highly unlikely Letestu is going to get any better at age 31. In fact, his game is likely to deteriorate. Either that, or Edmonton still needs to make a trade for a centre capable of playing third line in the NHL. The fact that Yakupov has not been moved is an indication that the Oilers have not been able to unload him and the final year of his contract. The two sides are essentially forced to try to make things work. There are plenty of strong players at forward now but the Oilers are still lucky to have Yakupov so that they do not have to rush Jesse Puljujarvi this year. It is a great idea to plan for Puljujarvi to spend the first half of the year in Bakersfield learning the North American game, which will have the side benefit of giving Yakupov one final chance to thrive on the Oilers.

At the Cult

McCurdy: Might Larsson be a wizard of goal prevention? Hmmm

Staples: How Wayne Gretzky recruited Milan Lucic

Willis: Should Oilers reunite Yakupov with McDavid in 2016-17?

Staples: Lucic a glue player who should stick with McDavid

McCurdy: Changes were needed and Chiarelli made them

Staples: Might it take a three-way deal for Oilers to nab Tyson Barrie?