However, Yakupov's NHL career was short-lived and he played 350 NHL games, scoring 62 goals, 74 assists, and accumulating 136 points.
Yakupov currently plays in the KHL but has struggled to perform, with his last thirty-point season in 2018-2019 with SKA St. Petersburg. In the 2022-2023 season with Avangard Omsk, he only scored 6 goals and 4 assists for a total of 10 points in 16 games.