Washington Capitals Trade Target: Nail Yakupov
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals are in the market for a top six forward. Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan, however, has been pretty adamant about not liking what will be out there on the free agent market. If the Washington Capitals want to add a top six forward, they’ll likely have to trade for one. One option that I think could be relatively cheap for them is Edmonton Oilers forward Nail Yakupov.
Yakupov is a bit of a polarizing player. He has an undeniable level of skill that is rare to see. That was quite evident during his rookie season (the lockout shortened 2013 season) when he had 31 points in 48 games. On a really awful team, he had a plus minus of -4. It went downhill from there as he had just 24 points in 63 games in 2013-2014. He sort of rebounded this season with a career high 33 points in 81 games, but that’s still not even close to what he did during his rookie season. The Oilers might want to give him one last shot with Todd McLellan, but I think they would certainly be open to trading him at this point.
There’s a considerable amount of risk involved in trading for Yakupov. He clearly isn’t living up to his first overall pick status yet. However, I think there is still hope for him. Yakupov has never had an experienced head coach before. The Washington Capitals have Barry Trotz. I think Yakupov would benefit from having a guy like Barry Trotz coaching him. I think he would also benefit from playing alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov, who he has had success with at the international level. Yakupov has struggled to adjust to life in North America. The Washington Capitals have Alex Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. Both would serve as guys who can relate to Yakupov and serve as not just role models as fellow Russians, but friends as well.
More from Capitals News
- Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
- Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
- Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
- Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
- Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back
Looking at Yakupov’s numbers, I think the Washington Capitals would be a good fit for him. He had a career high even strength CorsiFor% this year (46.4%). That was on a team that had at most two NHL caliber defenseman at any given moment during the season. He did a much better job creating shot attempts this season as well. He went from 161 shot attempts in 2013-2014 to 257 in 2014-2015. It wasn’t just because of his increase in ice time either, as his CorsiFor per 60 minutes at even strength jumped from 50.4 in 2013-2014 to 52.3 in 2014-2015.
I think his defense is still questionable at best. However, I think Trotz could work with him and make him better. If the Washington Capitals want a top six forward for cheap, they might not come cheaper than Yakupov if the Oilers are interested in moving him.
His trade value is largely unknown. There’s been whispers about a Yakupov trade for about a year now. I think the Washington Capitals would have to give up talent in order to get him. I think Troy Brouwer should be a part of the deal. The Oilers have talented young forwards, but those young guys have no one to look up to except Matt Hendricks. Brouwer is a Stanley Cup champion who could help the Oilers improve in 2015 more than Yakupov would. That largely depends on how quick of a fix the Oilers are looking for. If they’re looking to be taken seriously this year, they’ll be more likely to accept a Brouwer plus the rights to one Mike Green (worth at least a third round pick should the Oilers be interested) for Yakupov trade. If the Oilers aren’t interested in obtaining the rights to Green, a 2015 third round or even 2016 second round pick could be included. That sounds like a fair trade to me.
If the Oilers would prefer defense as a return for Yakupov, I think the Washington Capitals wouldn’t be a good fit for the Oilers unless the Oilers were willing to throw in a high (i.e. second round) draft pick along with Yakupov to get Alzner. Something tells me the Oilers would want more for Yakupov than Orlov or Schmidt. Connor Carrick could be an option, but I believe that the Oilers would target an NHL ready defenseman considering that they desperately lack those.
Judging by the Washington Capitals’ interest in Evander Kane when he was available, I think the Capitals would be interested in Yakupov. That would fit the “buy low” logic of that trade. Yakupov could give the Washington Capitals a cheap top six forward for the next two seasons. Or he could continue to barely tread water in the NHL. That’s the risk involved in trading for Yakupov. The Capitals must decide whether or not that is a risk that is worth taking.