Music: {allcanada} TAMBELLINI ON YAKUPOV: NOTHING WILL BE HANDED TO HIM

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

{allcanada} TAMBELLINI ON YAKUPOV: NOTHING WILL BE HANDED TO HIM

MR.BEER® Home Brewing Kits. American's #1 Home Brewing System. Makes a great gift!

With a freshly signed contract now tucked in his back pocket, The Edmonton Journal notes Nail Yakupov has one last bit of business to take care of: now he needs to secure his spot on the Edmonton Oilers roster. The Oilers signed the NHL's first overall draft pick to his three year entry level contract, a deal that falls under the parameters of the current collective bargaining agreement. To that end, his base salary is US$925,000 per season but he will be a $3.775-million cap hit — a total that includes all the bonuses he could collect if he triggers each and every one.

"I was not nervous about getting the deal done, but I'm excited it is done," Yakupov said when reached in Russia on Monday. "I will change my training when I get to Edmonton so I'm ready for the first day of camp."

Following the Oilers development camp June, the dynamic winger had returned to Russia with plans to spend the summer at his home in Tatarstan. He will fly back to North America in August to compete in the Canada-Russia Challenge, after which he'll make his to Edmonton. The four-game, under-20 tournament opens in Yaroslavl, Russia, Aug. 8-9 then swings over to the Metro Centre in Halifax for games Aug. 13-14.

"Nail is projecting what's going to happen in camp. He knows nothing will be handed to him," general manager Steve Tambellini said. "It wasn't with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He came in, went through rookie camp, training camp, pre-season games, then we saw where we were at. But whether you're talking about Nugent-Hopkins, (Taylor Hall or Jordan Eberle) they all had a transition time. I expect Nail to go through a transition also."

Both Tambellini and Assistant general manager Ricky Olczyk said it was a straightforward negotiation once both sides cleared time to sign off on the deal. Both said the Oilers were not going to hold off to see what the entry-level contracts might look like in the new CBA.

The start of the upcoming NHL season does hinge on a new collective bargaining agreement, but for now, Yakupov isn't thinking about the possibility of playing elsewhere.

"We wanted to get it done, and so did he," Tambellini said. "Young players, whether he's the first pick overall or not, wants to get their first contract signed."

"It was a straightforward deal," said Olczyk. "From my standpoint, I wasn't negotiating anything. The contract is done, that's the most important thing."