Nail Yakupov was conflicted about leaving KHL after lockout

Nail Yakupov had mixed feeling about leaving his native Russia to join the Edmonton Oilers when the NHL lockout ended last January, according to R-Sport. The 19-year old played for Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL, and told reporters at Russia’s Olympic orientation camp that he didn't really want to leave.

Of course I would have liked to have played a full season with Neftekhimik. I didn’t want to leave Nizhnekamsk because, to be honest, we had a pretty cool team.

Yakupov scored 10 goals and eight assists for Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, and earned KHL Rookie of the Month honors for October. Once in North America, the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft led all NHL rookies in scoring with 17 goals, and added 14 assists in 48 games for the Oilers. Yakupov said his experience in Edmonton was "great", and added "the only bad thing was that we didn't make the playoffs."

Looking ahead to the 2013-14 NHL season, Yakupov said "this year is sure to be sparkling", but qualified that by adding "if we don’t get into the playoffs, then you've got to wonder. We've reshuffled, management has changed … something has to happen this season in terms of taking a step forward."

The Oilers have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2005-06 NHL season.