Yakupov
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I looked up his stat lines on the last 5 GP. His ice time has been as low as 13 min., as high as 18 min, and was 15 min three times. EDM lost pretty much all of those games and Yakupov often found a way to squeak a point on the lone OILER goal [that doesn't scream dominating streak to me, but rather good fortune].
His shooting percentage is an unlikely sustainable 17% and, while he leads the team in PP goals, he sits 9th-10th in PP TOI which isn't a recipte for ongoing success. He averages about 0.5 PIM/GM which isn't astronomical by any means.
I'm not sure what to tell you. I'm a tad skeptical, but with so many of the OILERS star players struggling Yakupov seems to be getting bumped all over the lineup and finding ways to produce regardless of his linemates. I did see he and Hall hooked up last game. If that trend continues [playing with Hall and hitting the 18 min. mark] then I like his chances, but with the team stinking and his TOI average around 15 minutes it's hard to count on PPG success. With EDM falling behind in so many games it becomes all the harder for their offense to score as the opposing team can resort to a more defensive coverage system. EDM is a great counter-attacking team and, if they get the lead, can poke holes when a team tries to push too aggresively to score.
I'm cautious. I think 2-3 points is reasonable, 3-5 hits, and probably a minor penalty thrown in for good measure. He could surpass this, but counting on better production than this seems like a pipe dream.
