The St. Louis Blues won't wait long to see new addition Nail Yakupov, as coach Ken Hitchcock confirmed the Russian winger will play in the season opener Oct. 12 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks.
As for Hitchcock, he's looking forward to integrating Yakupov into his lineup.
"I have a lot of experience in dealing with this type of player," Hitchcock said. "Given the opportunity he's going to get here, I think we can work with him. We did our homework."
Still, Hitchcock cautioned that fans shouldn't expect Yakupov to turn into a 200-foot player overnight.
"He has a skill set and we want to enhance the skill set. The stuff without the puck, it's going to take time, and we're in no hurry," Hitchcock said. "We're not going to turn a player into a defensive specialist and we don't anticipate doing that at all. We want to take what his strengths are and get him to really focus on that. The other stuff is teachable and we'll work with him."
The bench boss believes Yakupov will benefit from being surrounded by a veteran core in St. Louis.
"It's not a lot different than Robby Fabbri, or these type of players," Hitchcock added. "What (Yakupov) does well, we're going to really enhance and try to augment with the people we play him with, then turn him loose, and then nudge the other stuff that's the team part and see if we can get him up to speed here in a couple months."
The Blues acquired the former first overall selection Friday, sending prospect Zach Pochiro and a conditional third-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers. Yakupov scored 23 points in 60 games with the Oilers last season.
