2012 NHL DRAFT: One game Scouting Report for Nail Yakupov

Sarnia's Nail Yakupov is currently the 2012 NHL Draft's highest-ranked prospect. The 5'11", 161 lbs left-handed winger is a dynamic offensive-player, with the ability to create offense every time the puck is on his stick. This 1-game scouting report is from a January 27th game against the Ottawa 67's. It is important to note that this was Yakupov's first game back after struggling through an injury.


OVERALL GRADE

It's also interesting to note that Yakupov's overall grade is better than any overall grade produced by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last season. That said, it is nothing more than an interesting note, as 1-game grades cannot determine a player's long-term ability. Yakupov's grade was helped by 1 goal scored and a traditional plus/minus rating of plus-1.

	10
WINS	44	WINS
EVENTS	59	EVENTS
GRADE	75	GRADE
PLAYER	10

OVERALL RISK/REWARD RATING

Yakupov produced an above-average overall risk/reward rating of 1.62, and an overall ratio of 2.80 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. His best work was done in the offensive-zone, while his lowest numbers were produced in the neutral-zone; not unusual for offensive-players who prefer to carry the puck into the offensive-zone rather than dump it in deep.

	10
POS	42	POS
NEG	15	NEG
RATIO	2.80	RATIO
MIN/G	16.71	MIN/G
	10
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	2.51	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.90	NEG/MIN
	10
EVENTS/ MIN	3.41	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	1.62	RISK/REWARD
	10

OFFENSIVE-ZONE RISK/REWARD RATING

Yakupov had an above-average offensive-zone risk/reward rating of 0.96, and an incredible o-zone ratio of 5 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. The low event total per-minute played, but high ratio shows that Yakupov played a passive-game, but was incredibly efficient when the puck was on his stick. He won both of his o-zone puck-battles, recovered 4 loose-pucks, and completed 12 of 15 o-zone pass-attempts.

	10
OZ POS	20	OZ POS
OZ NEG	4	OZ NEG
RATIO	5.00	RATIO
MIN/G	16.71	MIN/G
	10
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	1.20	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.24	NEG/MIN
	10
EVENTS/ MIN	1.44	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.96	RISK/REWARD
	10

DEFENSIVE-ZONE RISK/REWARD RATING

Yakupov had a strong defensive-zone risk/reward rating of 0.42, and a solid d-zone ratio of 2.17 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. He won 4 of 5 d-zone puck-battles, but was successful with only 3 of 6 pass-attempts.

	10
DZ POS	13	DZ POS
DZ NEG	6	DZ NEG
RATIO	2.17	RATIO
MIN/G	16.71	MIN/G
	10
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.78	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.36	NEG/MIN
	10
EVENTS/ MIN	1.14	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.42	RISK/REWARD
	10

NEUTRAL-ZONE RISK/REWARD RATING

As mentioned earlier, Yakupov's tendency to carry the puck through the neutral-zone and into the offensive-zone hurt his n-zone rating. His rating is also hurt by his tendency to stretch the zone. This makes pass-receptions very difficult; often resulting in him not being able to control passes. His neutral-zone risk/reward rating of 0.06 is well below-average, while his ratio of 1.13 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play is also low.

	10
NZ POS	9	NZ POS
NZ NEG	8	NZ NEG
RATIO	1.13	RATIO
MIN/G	16.71	MIN/G
	10
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.54	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.48	NEG/MIN
	10
EV/ MIN	1.02	EV/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.06	RISK/REWARD
	10

POWERPLAY RISK/REWARD RATING

Yakupov was covered closely by Ottawa while playing on the powerplay. As such, he had a disappointing powerplay risk/reward rating of 0.00, and a ratio of only 1 successful play for every 1 unsuccessful play.  He was not able to complete any o-zone passes on the powerplay, and failed with his only attempt to dump the puck deep into the offensive-zone.

	10
POS	3	POS
NEG	3	NEG
RATIO	1	RATIO
MIN/G	2.46	MIN/G
	10
MINUTES	2	MINUTES
POS/MIN	1.22	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	1.22	NEG/MIN
	10
EVENTS/ MIN	2.44	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.00	RISK/REWARD
	10