On Feb. 9, 2023, the St. Louis Blues agreed to a deal sending franchise icon Vladimir Tarasenko along with defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers for a 2023 first-round draft pick (Theo Lindstein), a 2024 third-round pick, defenseman Hunter Skinner, and forward Sammy Blais. The deal sent shockwaves through the city of St. Louis as the long-time rumored trade finally became truth.
Here’s a look back at what led to the deal taking place and a review of the trade one year later.
Blues Perspective
Drafted by the Blues 16th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Tarasenko became an instant fan-favorite upon his arrival in the United States during the shortened 48-game 2012-13 season. He made a strong impression during his first game scoring his first two goals on his first two shots in the NHL on Jan. 19, 2013, against team rival, the Detroit Red Wings. He finished his first season with the team appearing in 38 games scoring eight goals and 19 points.
After three years with the Blues, the Russian star officially became a restricted free agent with 179 regular season games, 66 goals, and 135 points under his belt. On July 7, 2015, he and the Blues organization agreed on a new eight-year contract worth $70 million putting him among the top 20 highest-paid players in the NHL. His accurate wrist shot kept him among the top goal scorers in the NHL throughout his early career and the Blues looked to build around him.
Fast forward five years, Tarasenko experienced a stretch of shoulder injuries as the star winger underwent three surgeries in less than three years. He injured his shoulder the first time in the Blues’ regular-season finale in April 2018, again in October 2019, only 10 games into the regular season, and finally in August 2020 after returning to the Edmonton bubble for only four games before he was sent back to St. Louis for reevaluation.
When asked about his third surgery, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said: “He was very obviously limited. He rehabbed, he came back, we had to do another MRI. He wasn’t feeling good. That surgery didn’t take the way that we had hoped. It wasn’t successful” (from ‘Blues’ Tarasenko set for 3rd shoulder surgery, out 5 months’, USA Today, Aug. 26, 2020).
With the forward receiving a clean bill of health, he returned to action on March 6, 2021. That season, he appeared in 24 regular season games scoring four goals and 14 points and was a minus-7 rating over 24 games. The following offseason began the true whirlwind for the Blues and Tarasenko when he publically requested a trade on July 7, 2021, only six weeks after their season ended.
As noted in The Athletic, “Tarasenko’s trade request, which was first reported by The Athletic, was made in large part because of his frustration with how the first two surgeries were handled by the Blues, according to team and league sources, and that the club internally criticized his performance while not taking ownership for the alleged faulty procedures” (from ‘A chip on his shoulder: Vladimir Tarasenko’s doctor says disgruntled Blues star is healthy and motivated’, The Athletic, July 20, 2021).
To make matters worse, the Blues then opted to leave the winger unprotected in the NHL’s expansion draft as announced two weeks later. After being passed by the Seattle Kraken in the draft, he returned to St. Louis for the 2021-22 season where he scored a career-high 82 points (34 goals, 48 assists) in 75 regular season games.
The Blues and the Rangers agreed the following season to move Tarasenko in the first of several trades ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He concluded his 11 years in St. Louis scoring 262 goals and 553 points over 644 regular season games. Through nine postseason runs, he scored 41 goals and 60 points in 90 games. He was named an NHL All-Star three times (2015, 2016, 2017) during his time with the Blues and was a member of the 2019 Stanley Cup team.
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With free agency looming, the Blues did not appear comfortable paying the cost of what it would take to re-sign the disgruntled forward and convince him to stay in St. Louis. Despite his love for the fans and the city, he appeared ready to move on and see a career playing outside of his only team in search of a second Stanley Cup.
The acquisition of the 2023 first-round draft pick netted the Blues draft capital which has resulted in a potential top-four defenseman in Lindstein and a 2024 third-round pick. Though there is potential in Skinner as a depth defender, it is unlikely he will see much time in the NHL with the Blues organization. Finally, the return of Blais to St. Louis made the trade of Tarasenko easier to swallow for nostalgia purposes but turned to true happiness for the fan base when he concluded the 2022-23 season with a career-high nine goals and 20 points in 31 games.
Rangers Perspective
With 50% of Tarasenko’s salary retained by the Blues, the cash-strapped Rangers acquired a six-time 30-goal scorer who had accumulated 44 goals and 111 points in his last 113 games. New York had two first-round picks, their own and the Dallas Stars’ first-round pick from an earlier trade. The deal moved the later of the two picks. Adding the forward helped reaffirm their push for the playoffs and another Stanley Cup. He joined the likes of Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad, among others.
The Rangers also acquired a player in Mikkola who was looked at to provide a valuable defensive-minded defenseman who could easily fit on the team’s bottom-pairing unit. He was never going to be looked at as a defensive player, but certainly, one that could provide depth in a playoff push and the postseason. Despite their playoff berth, the Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the New Jersey Devils ultimately losing 4-0 in Game 7 of the series. The acquisition of Tarasenko did not pay off in the way Rangers fans, teammates, and the front office had anticipated but certainly made for a valiant effort.
General Consensus
Looking back on the trade, the hard truth was that Tarasenko controlled his destiny holding a full no-trade clause. He determined if he would be moved and where he would be moved to. The trade signaled the start of a massive sell-off by the Blues and was one that ultimately was not going to get a high return. Though he recorded an 82-point season before being dealt, his injury history played a large factor in trade negotiations of a player on an expiring contract. The Blues gained what they could from the deal and should consider it a win in their favor after receiving multiple pieces in return, including a first-round draft pick. St. Louis will continue to build on what they got in return for the pending free agent in hopes of returning to the postseason and winning their second Stanley Cup.