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Oilers' Yakupov 'ready to turn the page' as he prepares for 3rd NHL season

Perry Nelson / USA Today

The first two seasons of Nail Yakupov's NHL career have been on the bumpy side, but the 2012 first-overall pick is entering his third season as an Edmonton Oiler with a fresh attitude - and some stronger English.

Yakupov regressed as a sophomore in 2013-14, posting 11 goals and 24 points in 63 games, after recording 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games as a rookie. He worked hard in the offseason to improve his size and strength, as well as his communication skills.

“I feel much better than I did last year,” Yakupov told the Edmonton Sun. “I came here to Edmonton earlier this year and I’ve been training here for a while. I’m happy to be here and I’m happy to see everyone here. I’m ready to turn the page. I think we have the people to have a great season here. We’ll see what happens.”

Oilers coach Dallas Eakins believes expectations for Yakupov were too high and he points to Yakupov's shooting percentage as an example - it was an unsustainable 21 percent as a rookie, a mark that regressed to 9 percent last season.

“The biggest thing for me with Nail is that he’s walking in with a smile on his face," Eakins said. "I think he learned a lot about himself and the game last season. It’s going to pay off a lot, big time.”

Yakupov added 11 pounds of muscle working out during the offseason. He says he is fully focused on the upcoming season and approaching it the right way. He also spent time learning English in order to better communicate with teammates.

I’m not shy anymore, because my first two years I was a kind of a little bit shy to speak English because I wasn’t very good. Especially when you have guys beside you who speak English really well and they’ve been born in Canada and the United States. But now I’m good and I’m trying talk more with my teammates and the guys in the locker room. We talk a lot and I’m trying to be among the guys in the locker room. We have a friendly team and you can talk to anyone, the coaches, the players and everyone. I feel much better around everyone. I think it’s going well.

Those communication skills will be put to the test once Edmonton begins its preseason schedule on Sunday.

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