St. Louis Blues: 4 best landing spots for Vladimir Tarasenko
These are the four best fits for St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
As the Tampa Bay Lightning were in the midst of winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup, we were dealt with some other breaking news from the NHL on Wednesday as it was reported that Vladimir Tarasenko had requested a trade.
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Per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Tarasenko has officially requested a trade from the St. Louis Blues and it sets in motion what will be a wild and incredibly busy offseason in the NHL.
With the Seattle Kraken entering the league in 2021-22, we have the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and the 2021 NHL Entry Draft looming on the horizon, while Free Agency will take place just a few days after both events.
But one of the biggest stories of an offseason already loaded with intriguing subplots will now be the future of Tarasenko, who would no doubt be a potent weapon for most teams in the National Hockey League.
Granted, the 29-year-old has been hindered by a string of shoulder injuries over the past couple of years which has limited him to a grand total of just 34 games over the last two seasons, and there could be some concerns over his long-term durability moving forward.
However, there is no doubting Tarasenko’s brilliance on the ice when he is fully-heathy, backed up by the fact that he is just one of 30 players who have managed the pretty impressive feat of scoring 40 goals in a single season over the past 10 years.
He boasts five seasons of 30 goals or more and recorded a career-high 75 points (39 G, 36 A) in 82 games in 2016-17, while he put up 33 goals and 34 assists for 67 points in his last full healthy season in 2018-19.
Tarasenko, who recorded 17 points (11 G, 6 A) in 26 games as the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19, currently has two years remaining on his current contract with a $7,500,000 cap hit and a no-move clause.
St. Louis will more than likely need to retain a large chunk of salary to facilitate a trade given that there will be a flat cap in the NHL again for the 2021-22 season, but the Blues have some flexibility to do just that and there are four teams in particular that would be interested in adding Tarasenko to their roster…
4 Best Landing Spots for St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko
4. LA Kings
The LA Kings have an exciting future to look forward to thanks to a young core featuring the likes of Quinton Byfield, Arthur Kaliyev and Alex Turcotte to name just a few.
However, with veterans Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar still on the roster, the Kings are in a position to navigate a quick rebuild and acquiring a player of Vladimir Tarasenko’s ilk would certainly accelerate the process.
If healthy, there is no doubt that Tarasenko can score 30 goals a season still and he would have plenty of young talent around him to ensure that he has the opportunities to thrive on both the power play and at 5-on-5.
Granted, the Kings did recently acquire winger Viktor Arvidsson from the Nashville Predators but you can never have enough pure goalscorers in the NHL, and LA will have the cap space to make a deal work with the St. Louis Blues, especially if Jonathan Quick is taken by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
3. Calgary Flames
This is a popular trade destination for Vladimir Tarasenko given that the Flames need a spark to get the most out of this underperforming roster, while Matthew Tkachuk reportedly wants out of Calgary so he could become part of any potential deal between these two teams.
The Blues would have to give up their First Round pick (No. 16 overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft if they want a player like Tkachuk back in return, while they would also need to retain some of Tarasenko’s salary.
However, this is a trade that would make sense for the Flames from a hockey sense given that they missed the Playoffs in 2020-21 and, having not made it past the First Round since the 2014-15 season, ownership may be tempted to blow this roster up if things don’t work out in 2021-22.
It was clear that the front office are reluctant to enter full rebuild mode just yet after hiring veteran Head Coach Darryl Sutter last year, and adding an elite goalscoring forward to the mix could be the catalyst for this team.
Plus, just imagine how much fun it would be to see Tarasenko on the same line as Johnny Gaudreau – that is a deadly duo that could combine to provide some serious offense for a Calgary team that is approaching a major crossroads.
2. New York Rangers
If this was a year ago, I would have dismissed any reports liking the New York Rangers with Vladimir Tarasenko given where this franchise was in its rebuild.
However, that opinion can now be thrown out of the window in the wake of Owner James Dolan firing President John Davidson and General Manager Jeff Gorton out of the blue.
And, with Chris Drury taking over both roles and appointing Gerard Gallant as his Head Coach, it is clear the Rangers are in win-now mode and that could be reflected in what moves they make this offseason.
While they are already flush with uber-talented forwards, Tarasenko would give them a legit goalscoring threat and he would provide a deadly one-two punch with Artemi Panarin, with the two players already sharing a relationship.
That could be key to the Blueshirts coming out on top in the Tarasenko sweepstakes given that the player will have a say over where he is traded to, and New York also boasts an abundance of prospects and picks they can use to make this deal work.
Plus, with around $22 million (per CapFriendly) in projected cap space and the St. Louis Blues almost certainly going to need to retain some of Tarasenko’s $7,500,000 cap hit, the Rangers are in prime position to make this trade work and it would be quite the statement by the team on Broadway.
The kind of statement that would make it abundantly clear that the New York Rangers are ready to seriously compete for the Stanley Cup right now.
1. Seattle Kraken
This is an obvious landing spot for a plethora of different reasons, the main one being that the Kraken are starting from scratch so they will be able to take on more salary than most teams which could be attractive to St. Louis.
Given that there is a general consensus that Seattle General Manager Ron Francis wants to build through the Draft, he would no doubt jump at the chance to get some assets back in return for taking on most of Tarasenko’s cap hit.
Seattle could also draft a player the Blues want and then flip that player as part of any potential trade, and it just makes perfect sense given that the Kraken literally have a clean slate to play with.
There’s also the fact that there will be pressure on Seattle to at least be competitive in the wake of what the Vegas Golden Knights did after entering the NHL, and what better way to strive for success than by building a roster around a star like Tarasenko?
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Not only would he be a top-line scorer for this Kraken team, but he would sell jerseys and tickets by the bucketload and Tarasenko is exactly the type of player that Seattle could market as the face of the franchise throughout their inaugural season.
Plus, he knows what it takes to win having been a key cog in the Blues team that won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19, and that level of experience would be crucial in the Seattle locker room that will be a mishmash of different players from all over the league.
We will see what happens but Vladimir Tarasenko watch is now officially on and it will be a hot storyline throughout this offseason.