Nail Yakupov needed 4 games to match his goal total from last season

The Avalanche took a shot on Nail Yakupov, the former No. 1 overall pick from the 2012 NHL Draft, with a cheap one-year deal over the summer. Based on the team’s first four games this season, it could prove to be one of the best signings of the offseason.

Yakupov has put up three goals and five points in his first four games with the Avalanche, including a two-point effort in the team’s 6-3 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night. He’s still carving out his role with Colorado, having averaged just 12:25 of ice time per game, but the transition has gone well so far.

“It’s hard to say,” Yakupov said of what’s different in Colorado, via BSN Denver. “It’s just the start of the year. I’ve been working hard in the summer and I have a fresh start right now. A new opportunity, new teammates, and everything works well right now. I just have to stick with that.”

He looks like he’s having fun again, that’s for sure.

It’s a far cry from last season, when Yakupov finished with just three goals and nine points in 40 games with the Blues. He scored just one goal after Oct. 20 and was nailed to the bench during the playoffs.

It’s easy to forget that Yakupov was once a huge deal given the way his career has gone in recent years. Since scoring 17 goals as a 19-year-old rookie during the 2012-13 season, he’s been shipped out by Edmonton, picked up by St. Louis, and eventually found his way to Colorado. Compared to other recent No. 1 picks, he’s been by far the biggest disappointment.

But the Avalanche could provide a rare opportunity as a young team trying to move on from a disastrous year, and Yakupov was the perfect fit as a low-risk, high-reward gamble to add some pop to the lineup.

The results have been spectacular so far.

Not only has Yakupov already matched his paltry goal total from last season, but the Avalanche have outscored opponents, 6-0, when he’s on the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s a far cry from getting outscored 180-119 during his first five seasons with the Oilers and Blues. Remember, this Colorado team was terrible last season, too, so it’s not like he’s simply joined the Harlem Globetrotters of hockey.

Now there are still some reasons to be skeptical this will last. He’s shooting 27.3 percent, which is sure to go down somewhere closer to his 9.9 percent career rate. He’s also spent most of his 5-on-5 time on the same line as Matt Duchene, who could be traded at any moment. Playing next to J.T. Compher or Carl Soderberg wouldn’t be so easy.

But there are also signs of real optimism. The Avs have dominated possession when he’s on the ice — 61 percent even strength Corsi, per Hockey-Reference — and his shot rate per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 is up from 5.0 last season to a career-high 11.6 this season. He’s also received power-play time without scoring and could get a boost there even as his even-strength production regresses to something more sustainable.

If you’re the Avalanche, this is exactly what you wanted to see out of Yakupov to open the season. He looks confident and happy playing hockey again. The low-pressure environment in the Rocky Mountains always seemed like the perfect fit for that to happen.

It’s still too early to call Yakupov one of the best bargain moves of the 2017 NHL offseason, but we’re on the way.