It feels like only yesterday. Remember when the Edmonton Oilers were finally poised to climb out of the basement of the NHL? They had the most young talent in the league, after all, and just spent their third consecutive first overall pick on Nail Yakupov - an Ilya Kovalchuk-esque offensive dynamo who notched 170 points in 107 games for the Sarnia Sting.
Now, the day after Yakupov's departure from the City of Champions, the Oilers are still in the process of finding a fresh identity. Rather ironically, with two of those three No. 1 picks now out of the picture, Edmonton finds themselves in a better position than ever before.
The X-factor forcing the upswing, of course, is Connor McDavid. The youngest captain in NHL history. The savior. The future. The fourth No. 1 pick.
Now, with Yakupov in St. Louis, a true verdict can be established. Was he a victim of four different head coaches and an inept upper management in Edmonton, or is he just a bust?
When Edmonton drafted Yakupov in 2012, they failed to address a need. Eight of the next nine players selected were defenseman, the outlier being Yakupov's linemate in Sarnia: Alex Galchenyuk, who is fresh off his first 30-goal season.
Yakupov enjoyed a strong rookie campaign, notching 31 points in the 48-game lockout-shortened season, but other than sliding into the highlight reels after his first NHL goal, he failed to create much else in three frustrating seasons.
No matter what Yakupov goes on to accomplish with the Blues, his tenure in Edmonton will quickly be forgotten. Partially from a lack of success, but mostly because of what the Oilers have in store.
Sure, trading a No. 1 pick for a conditional third-rounder and a player who scored 26 points in the ECHL last season seems like a typical Oilers move, but the deal signifies another positive step on the road to sustained success.
Yakupov will be a restricted free agent come season's end, and trading him before a potential struggle to establish a reasonable contract makes sense for the Oilers.
Edmonton made a huge splash July 1 in landing Milan Lucic. They were practically gifted Jesse Puljujarvi with the fourth overall pick, and while it may have been for a steep price, the blue line is in better shape with Adam Larsson in the fold.
It may have taken a few extra years, and the luck of a real golden ticket in landing McDavid, but with season two of the new era on the horizon, the culture surrounding the Oilers continues to develop for the better.
