REPORT: Blackhawks, Oilers have discussed Nail Yakupov trade

Bob McKenzie of TSN reported on Thursday that the Chicago Blackhawks have engaged the Edmonton Oilers in trade discussions for right-winger Nail Yakupov. McKenzie added that no deal is imminent and that the Blackhawks are still interested in filling any holes in their lineup from within.

Chicago could still have interest in adding Yakupov, but the two teams reportedly have not spoken on the matter recently.

The Oilers selected Yakupov first overall back in the 2012 NHL Draft, though he didn’t make his league debut until January 2013. He is coming off a relatively disappointing 2015-2016 campaign during which he scored just eight goals and dished out 15 assists in 60 games. For his career, Yakupov has scored 50 goals with 61 assists in 252 NHL games.

He signed a two-year contract extension worth $5 million in April 2015.

Edmonton has been among the league’s worst teams over the last several years and their 10-year playoff drought is currently the longest in the NHL. In potentially acquiring the up-and-comer, the Blackhawks would be hoping that Yakupov’s relative lack of production to this point has been due somewhat to having been a part of a poor team.

Mark Spector of Sportsnet added that if a deal were to come down, the Blackhawks would send prospects to the Oilers and ask Edmonton to eat some of Yakupov’s $2.5 million salary for the upcoming season.

Chicago was forced to trade promising young center Andrew Shaw to the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the summer due in large part to a lack of available salary cap space. The Blackhawks are looking to replace the 14 goals and 20 assists that Shaw provided last season.

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