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Yakupov was inactive Thursday for the third time in the last four games.
Yakupov's been given multiple chances to secure a larger role, but it's simply not happening. For instance, there were available minutes during Thursday's loss to the Wild -- center Kyle Brodziak's foot injury has him out at least five weeks -- but AHL call-up Ivan Barbashev started instead. That could be because Barbashev has more experience at center, but the fact that Yakupov is in a position to get beat out for the playing time is the main takeaway.
