Edmonton Oilers forward Nail Yakupov has long been the subject of trade rumors, as he has struggled to live up to the billing as a No. 1 overall draft selection.
It appears not only hockey fans feel a change of scenery would be best for the 22-year-old, as Igor Eronko of Russian news outlet Sport-Express tweeted Sunday that Yakupov requested a trade before the Feb. 29 deadline and garnered significant interest from around the league, but "something went wrong."
Nail Yakupov: 'I asked a trade and #Oilers gave a permission to speak to other teams, about 8 of them were interested, but smth went wrong'
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) March 27, 2016
The quote was translated from a Russian interview with Igor Rabiner, also of Sport-Express. Within the interview, it "seems plain" Yakupov has no interest in returning to the KHL, notes Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal.
New Jersey & Carolina were both specifically mentioned in that Russian Yakupov article. Exactly the kind of teams that should roll the dice.
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) March 27, 2016
After recording 10 points in 12 games in October, Yakupov has just nine points in 44 games since.
