After an impressive three-year career in the QMJHL with the Gatineau Olympiques—compiling 74 goals and 195 points in 169 regular season games—Yakov Trenin debuted for the Milwaukee Admirals at the end of the 2016-17 season, scoring three points in five games. Expected to have an impressive full rookie season in 2017-18, Trenin fell victim to a scary hit that left him limited to 44 games and only 16 points as he bounced around the bottom-six upon return from rehabbing his collarbone.
There were reports of a return to Russia early last summer (which were not completely groundless), and there was much consensus that Nashville had burned another early draft pick in an era where they didn’t have many.