It has been a forgettable season for Yakupov who will look to improve his play in both ends of the rink in 2014-15. At the start of the season he was viewed as a strong keeper option, after this disastrous season there are a number of better options as long as he remains in Edmonton.
Yakupov will miss his fifth straight game with an ankle fracture. His participation in the morning skate is a sign that he is close to returning, but the Oilers are not going to risk him getting more injured in a lost season. We could see him on Sunday vs. the Rangers.
Yakupov will miss his fourth straight game with what is now being called a fractured ankle. There is no timetable for Yak's return, but with the Oilers clearly out of the playoff mix, there is no reason to rush him back.
Yakupov was listed as questionable on Wednesday, so this is no surprise. Yak will miss his second straight game.
Yakupov missed Tuesday's game with an ankle ailment and likely will not be in the lineup on Thursday vs. the Sabres. Steve MacIntyre and Tyler Pitlick have been recalled from OKC (AHL).
The injury forced the Oilers to dress seven defensemen. Yakupov's ankle has been ailing him over the last month, but he had played through it the last seven games. Consider him day-to-day.
Yakupov missed Saturday's game with an ankle injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight. He has two goals and four assists in his last nine games. He wil return to the top-line with a Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Taylor Hall.
Yakupov suffered an ankle injury on Thursday, despite X-rays coming back negative, Yak will not play vs. the Flames tonight. Ales Hemsky will move to the top-line with Yakupov sidelined.
Yakupov left Thursday's game with an ankle injury. X-rays on the ankle came back negative on Friday and he says that he does not know if he will play vs. Calgary tomorrow. Yakupov has two goals and four assists in his last nine games. Ales Hemsky will move to the top-line if Yak is not available.
Yakupov missed three games with a concussion that he suffered on January 16. He has 17 points (9G / 8A) in 47 games in his sophomore season.
After skating on his own on Monday, Yak was ready to join the team today. He is still listed as questionable for Friday, but his presence at practice is a positive step in his recovery.
Yakupov suffered a head injury following a hit by Wild forward Matt Cooke on Thursday. He has been placed on IR and will not play for at least one week. Jesse Joensuu will enter the lineup.
Matt Cooke wall-papered Nail Yakupov into the boards inside the Wild blue-line late in the second period, Yakupov never got up and slowly walked to the dressing room. Expect an update within the next 24 hours, but the immediate concern is that Yakupov may have suffered a concussion.
Yakupov was a healthy scratch in the Oilers last game, but will play tonight vs. the Sharks. He has not played over 10 minutes in his last four games, but should tonight as he jumps onto the second line with Jordan Eberle and Sam Gagner.
Yakupov's terrible sophomore season continues to get worse. He has one goal and one assist in his last six games and has six goals and eight assists with a brutal minus-25 in 39 games on the year. Roman Horak will make his Oilers debut with Yak out.
Yakupov was given Tuesday off but he will be in the lineup on Thursday. Defensively, Yakupov is still a liabilitybut from an offensive and fantasy standpoint things are starting to trend in the right direction. He has three goals and three assists in his last seven games (1G / 2 A in first 16) and he is just a minus-1 in his last eight contests after being a minus-14 in his first 15. While he is no where near his 17 goals and 31 points from his rookie season, you have to keep in mind he is only 20-years-old and has tremendously high offensive upside. He is owned in 70% of Yahoo! leagues, but is playing top-6 minutes and on the top-power play, it is only a matter of time before the points start coming.
"It was tender enough that he couldn't practice. We'll re-evaluate tomorrow," Eakins said after practice. Yakupov has had his struggles this season, but has registered three goals and three assists in his last seven games. He did however have a bad giveaway on the power-play last night that led to a Jonathan Toews shorthanded goal that opened the scoring. It is the plays like that that have Yak in coach Eakins doghouse. The Oilers are off until Thursday, so Yakupov has time to recover before a decision has to be made.
The Oilers line rushes this morning suggest Yakupov will either play on the fourth line with Luke Gazdic and Ryan Smyth or will be a healthy scratch on Saturday. He has struggled to one goal and two assists with a minus-14 rating in 15 games. The 2012 first overall pick had a solid rookie season (31 pts in 48 games) but has yet to follow that up with anything fantasy relevant this year.
Yakupov has been a healthy scratch for the last two games. Hopefully for his fantasy owners he is ready to adjust the part of his game that coach Eakins doesn't like. He had a great rookie year scoring 17 goals and adding 14 assists (31 points) in 48 games.
This will be the second game in a row that Yakupov doesn't dress for the Oilers. He and new head coach Dallas Eakins clearly aren't on the same page right now. Eakins is trying to send a message to the former first overall pick. Yakupov has no points and a minus-3 rating in four games.
