Fantasy Impact: Oilers Trade Nail Yakupov and Sign Kris Russell

steve laidlaw

2016-10-07

Fantasy Impact: The Oilers trade Nail Yakupov to the Blues and sign Kris Russell.

The Blues get: A former #1 overall selection and reclamation project who is still only 23 and entering his fifth season in the NHL.

The Oilers get: Zach Pochiro, an ECHL prospect who likely was included just to balance contracts coming in and out. A third round pick, which could become a second round pick if Yakupov scores at least 15 goals. A highly divisive player in Russell who has the name power of a top-four defenseman but the analytics value him as more of a bottom-pairing type.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Yakupov is not the first lottery pick reclamation the Blues have taken from the Oilers. The last one, Magnus Paajarvi, hasn’t been more than a depth player shuttling between the end of the bench, the pressbox and the minors. Yakupov projects to be more impactful, at least for fantasy owners. A fresh start has to be seen as a positive though perhaps you’ll view losing the potential of playing with McDavid as a negative here.

As the above indicates, Yakupov will likely play more of a depth role, as even after the injury to Jaden Schwartz the Blues are still loaded up front. Yakupov’s addition likely blocks Ty Rattie from making the leap however. You may also want to watch for Yakupov fading to the fourth line once Schwartz returns from injury. We’ll have to see how he acquits himself. This also hurts Ivan Barbashev who was cut from the Blues yesterday.

In Edmonton, moving Yakupov clears a spot on the roster for Kris Versteeg who has played well but remains on a tryout contract. The Oilers suddenly have legitimate top-nine forward depth. This move also brings rookie Drake Caggiula closer to his NHL debut since the Oilers were likely to find room for Versteeg one way or another.

Adding Russell provides more depth for the Oilers’ blue line. He is the shot block king and will now join a team that has spent the past decade getting horribly outshot. This can only help him in leagues counting blocks. He also offers 30-point upside for offense though he won’t hinder options like Oscar Klefbom or Adam Larsson ahead of him on the depth chart.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

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Kris Versteeg

Nail Yakupov

Kris Russell

Cam Talbot

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

Ty Rattie

Ivan Barbashev

8 Comments

  1. isle b. 2016-10-07 at 23:44

    So, after swapping out #1 pick forwards Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov for serviceable NHL defensemen Adam Larsson and Kris Russell, can we start treating the Oilers like any other below-average NHL team with some upside? Because I really don’t see why their roster is any better than, say, the Flames or Jets at this point.

    • Dobber 2016-10-08 at 00:40

      I think by the end of the year you’ll find that to be a compliment ;)

      • Reuben 2016-10-08 at 15:18

        I’m with Dobber. The Jets and Flames have good, young rosters. It’s not a shot at the Oilers to compare those three teams.

        As for Chiarelli — he’s been shopping yakupov for a while. It’s easy to say he should have gotten more, but clearly there weren’t many GMs who thought he was worth much. Especially once it became known that Yakupov wanted out. Hall for Larsson – that’s pretty much market value for a top-pair RS dman. I think Larsson is better than many of us think he is. Add in Lucic and Puljujarvi, and then add in the all-too-many rumours that Hall was a bit of a gong show in the room, I don’t think the deal is ridiculous

    • LAKings 2016-10-08 at 04:39

      Who exactly treats them differently and says that they’re better than the Flames and Jets?
      Who says such things?

  2. LAKings 2016-10-08 at 04:38

    What about Jaskin? I own him as a keeper and this is my last year of patience with him. The acquisition of Yakupov could definitely relegate him to a bottom-6 hitting role.

  3. Josh Melly 2016-10-08 at 11:15

    while i think they could have still got more for yak, i think this is a good move for edm, look at the top 9 and pairs now, great mix of youth with upside and vets.

    Centers: Mcdavid, Nug, Drai
    Wings: Eberle, Puliot, Lucic, Maroon, Versteeg, Pulj
    D: Klef, Larsson, Russell, Nurse, Sekara, Rein (youth with talent guy)

    maybe not this year but this team looks like a balanced lineup instead of just kids with talent

    A better GM would have got more in the 2 trades but still think chiarelli has put together a much better team than he acquired, not in fantasy terms but a true hockey team

    • Dobber 2016-10-08 at 11:29

      The more I think about it, the more I think the deal was the best he could do. Yakupov was 1st overall. If he’s a bust (as it’s looking) then Chia settled for a 3rd rounder and cut his losses. If Yak even hints at not being a bust (by scoring 15 goals), the Chia got a 2nd rounder for him. I honestly don’t think he could have done much better.

      He could have gotten more for Hall for sure. But he got the player he wanted and how often have we done that in our leagues?

  4. jordandev 2016-10-08 at 15:48

    So is Nurse the 7th D out now?

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