Edmonton Oilers agree to two-year extension with Nail Yakupov
The Edmonton Oilers have signed 21-year-old right wing Nail Yakupov to a two-year extension, the team announced Monday.
The deal has an average annual value of $2.5 million, TSN reported.
Yakupov, the top overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft, had 14 goals and 19 assists for the Oilers this season. Edmonton missed the postseason for the ninth straight season since its Stanley Cup Finals run as a No. 8 seed in 2006.
Edmonton (24-44-14) finished sixth in the Pacific Division with 62 points, six points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes and 35 points out of the Western Conference’s final wild card spot.
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Yakupov had 17 goals and 31 points in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season and finished fifth in the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy voting. He has scored only 25 goals and 32 assists in the two seasons since.
Yakupov burst onto the scene as a 17 year-old in the Ontario Hockey League, when he scored 49 goals and 52 assists for the Sarnia Sting in 2010-11. After logging 31 goals and 38 assists in an injury-shortened 2011-12 campaign, Edmonton made him the No. 1 pick in the draft.
He ranked second among Oilers players this season in power-play goals with five, matching Teddy Purcell and finishing one behind Jordan Eberle.
Yakupov would have been a restricted free agent on July 1 had he not re-signed with Edmonton.