The Thing About Tarasenko

Created by: TheEarthmaster

Team: 2022-23 St. Louis Blues

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 9, 2023

Published: Feb. 9, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

Here's the thing with Tarasenko folks.

He's played okay, but worse than last year.
He's been hurt.
He had complete control over his destination.

I've been saying it for weeks- the range of Tarasenko trades were vast and varied and much depended on him. But it was extremely unlikely that he was going to get a 2023 1st and a top prospect. If you thought that, I don't think you were thinking it through all the way. I thought he would get an okay prospect and a 2nd. I was wrong. He got a 2023 1st and a (almost certainly) a 3rd.

And to be clear, that is pretty much all they got. You can talk yourself into Hunter Skinner as much as you want, but it's not rooted in reality. He's a 21 year old defenseman who had previously been playing in the AHL and is now playing in the ECHL, because he couldn't hack it in the AHL. He's not a prospect. He was included so that the Rangers could take both Mikkola and Tarasenko and stay under the contract limit. Skinner may, at best, become a guy who can be called up for spot service here or there, in a couple years. But even that is unlikely.

That said, I don't agree that the Blues got ripped off here, nor that they blundered by not trading Tarasenko in the summer.

For one, The Blues thought they were going to be good this year. You don't trade guys for futures when you think you can go for it, even if their contract is expiring.

Tarasenko also made 7.5 million dollars. The Blues were not going to retain all year- they thought they were going to be good. No one had cap space. The Rangers couldn't have made this trade over the summer. And the NTC was still a factor.

Ultimately I feel like they played their cards as well as they could have under the circumstances. A 2023 1st is solid. No one should be upset about receiving this.

Good luck to the must fun player I ever watched live in a Blues uniform. I'll miss him. Here's to some more trades.

Trades

STL

Kerfoot, Alexander
Niemelä, Topi
2023 1st round pick (TOR)

TOR

O'Reilly, Ryan ($3,750,000 retained)

STL

Lavoie, Raphael
Puljujärvi, Jesse
2023 2nd round pick (EDM)

EDM

Barbashev, Ivan ($1,125,000 retained)
Leivo, Josh

Retained Salary Transactions

Vladimir Tarasenko: $3,750,000 (50%)
Ryan O'Reilly: $3,750,000 (200%)
Ivan Barbashev: $1,125,000 (50%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2023
2024
2025

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$82,500,000	$81,027,500	$1,100,000	$390,000	$1,472,500

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Saad, Brandon $4,500,000$4,500,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 4	Schenn, Brayden $6,500,000$6,500,000 C, LW NTC UFA - 6	Kyrou, Jordan $2,800,000$2,800,000 RW UFA - 1
Neighbours, Jake $835,833$835,833 ($82,500$82K) LW, RW RFA - 3	Thomas, Robert $2,800,000$2,800,000 C, RW UFA - 1	Buchnevich, Pavel $5,800,000$5,800,000 LW, RW, C M-NTC UFA - 3
Blais, Samuel $1,525,000$1,525,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Kerfoot, Alexander $3,500,000$3,500,000 LW, C, RW M-NTC UFA - 1	Puljujärvi, Jesse $3,000,000$3,000,000 RW UFA - 1
Toropchenko, Alexey $750,000$750,000 LW, RW RFA - 1	Alexandrov, Nikita $816,667$816,667 ($57,500$58K) C RFA - 2	Acciari, Noel $1,250,000$1,250,000 C, RW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Krug, Torey $6,500,000$6,500,000 LD NTC UFA - 5	Faulk, Justin $6,500,000$6,500,000 RD NTC UFA - 5	Binnington, Jordan $6,000,000$6,000,000 G NTC UFA - 5
Leddy, Nick $4,000,000$4,000,000 LD NTC UFA - 4	Parayko, Colton $6,500,000$6,500,000 RD NTC UFA - 8	Greiss, Thomas $1,250,000$1,250,000 ($250,000$250K) G UFA - 1
Scandella, Marco $3,275,000$3,275,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Perunovich, Scott $750,000$750,000 LD RFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Brown, Logan $750,000$750,000 C, LW RFA - 1
Bortuzzo, Robert $950,000$950,000 RD UFA - 2
Pitlick, Tyler $750,000$750,000 RW UFA - 1

Taxi Squad
Walker, Nathan $750,000$750,000 ($0$0$0$0) LW UFA - 1
Rosén, Calle $762,500$762,500 ($0$0$0$0) LD UFA - 2

Top Comments

Feb. 9, 2023 at 3:45 p.m.

MoreHitzSeider

Seiders on the Storm

Joined: May 2020

Posts: 9,890

Likes: 7,764

This is just a case of a fan cheering for the laundry. "Player doesn't play for my team so he sucks now."

Rangers fans should be excited. Tarasenko is 31 years old and will light it up playing with Bread man and Zib. It's a good trade for both teams.

Feb. 9, 2023 at 3:47 p.m.

TheEarthmaster

Good Opinion Haver

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 1,837

Likes: 939

Quoting: MoreHitzSeider

Did I say he sucks now? I don't think I did. I said he's played okay, but worse than last year. That is objectively true.

I truly hope he does play well with the Rangers. Rangers fans should be excited. Doesn't change that the Blues could not have reasonably gotten much more than this with the way he had been playing on the Blues this year, his own contract clauses, and his recent injury.

Feb. 9, 2023 at 3:47 p.m.

palhal

LongtimeLeafsufferer

Joined: Jul. 2015

Posts: 59,871

Likes: 22,874

So while I agree with you narrative, you are saying correct that in effective the Blues got a later first rounder for a 50% retained Tarasenko,
Then I fail to see the logic why the current edition of ROR who has been inferior to Tarasenko, gets a first, a very good NHL Dman prospecttrade proposal. Heck the very good Horvat this season got a mid round first and equivalent to a second rounder.

Newgod77 liked this.

Feb. 9, 2023 at 3:49 p.m.

AV12

Anth

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 78

Likes: 10

You say all that about tarasenko justifying the value, but then somehow trade O'Reilly to the leafs for a much more significant return than tarasneko 😂 O'Reilly injured, older, and worse yet somehow you think he fetches a top prospect and a first along with Kerfoot who has more points last year than Blais whole career.

Feb. 9, 2023 at 3:51 p.m.

TheEarthmaster

Good Opinion Haver

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 1,837

Likes: 939

Quoting: palhal

I think he'll get more because he's not bound by a NTC, and because hockey people "like" O'Reilly more. Cup pedigree and all that. He's played worse, but as we've seen with players like Foligno, Chiarot, and Savard, if you have the correct "qualities" you can still extract assets even if you're playing poorly

I also think the Leafs front office is going to be in do or die mode and that may push them to be more aggressive than they otherwise might be.

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