There was a lot of hype surrounding Nail Yakupov leading up to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft after he totaled 80 goals and 90 assists for 170 points in just 107 games. However, once he made the jump to the NHL he was ever able to transfer his scoring abilities to the next level as he managed just 62 goals and 74 assists for 136 points in 350 games.
After short stints with the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche following his time with the Edmonton Oilers, Yakupov decided the best decision for him would be to head back home to Russia to play in the KHL. Now a member of the mighty SKA Saint Petersburg, the 24-year-old is hoping to get his scoring touch back while playing closer to his hometown.
On Saturday, SKA opened up the KHL season with a 6-1 victory over AK Bars and the former first overall NHL draft pick found the back of the net in the win.
The game was already well out of reach for AK Bars as Yakupov’s first of the season made it a 6-1 hockey game, but we’re guessing we’re going to see a lot more highlights like this one from Yakupov throughout the season that will have a lot of North American hockey fans (mainly Edmonton Oilers fans) wondering where that play was from him during his NHL career.
This happens to be Yakupov’s second stint in the KHL as he played 22 games with HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk during the 2012-13 season where he totaled 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in 22 games.
(H/T Twitter/khl_eng)
