Last week, The Athletic reported that St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has requested a trade, in part because he is upset with the team’s handling of his shoulder surgeries in 2018 and 2019. Tarasenko ended up needing a third surgery prior to this past season and has played just 34 regular-season games and eight playoff games total over the last two years.
Before these health issues, though, Tarasenko was a stud. From 2014-19, the now-29-year-old averaged 36 goals and 35 assists per season. He helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, finishing second on the team in goals that postseason with 11 in 26 games. Three of those goals came in the Cup Final against the Bruins.
Speaking of the Bruins, would they be interested in Tarasenko? It’s certainly an idea worth exploring, because it would make at least some sense. The Bruins need some offensive help, as evidenced by their problems scoring in their second-round loss to the Islanders.
According to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford, who covers the Blues, Tarasenko has given St. Louis a list of as many as 10 teams he would accept a trade to, and Rutherford believes the Bruins are on it. He identifies Boston along with the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Vegas Golden Knights and Philadelphia Flyers as destinations that could make the most sense.
Rutherford and Corey Pronman then go on to put together potential trade packages from each of those five teams, and here’s what they came up with for the Bruins.
Bruins get: Vladimir Tarasenko
Blues get: 2021 first-round pick, Trent Frederic
Rutherford writes that the Blues “would make this deal yesterday” and adds that they would likely retain some salary. Tarasenko is signed for two more years with an annual cap hit of $7.5 million.
From the Bruins’ perspective, this seems extremely fair and maybe even a steal if you’re convinced that Tarasenko is going to be healthy and able to get back to something resembling his old form. He had four goals and 10 assists in 24 regular-season games after returning from surgery this season and then two goals in four playoff games. It’s not like he lit the world on fire, so those concerns would also be fair. The Blues are reportedly making Tarasenko's medicals available to any team they talk to.
The Bruins’ first-round pick this year is 20th overall (technically 21st, but the Coyotes had to forfeit the 11th pick). This would make three times in the last five years the Bruins haven’t had a first-round pick if they make this trade, which isn’t ideal for a team with such a thin farm system. But if you’re really all-in on winning another Cup while you have Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, you probably suck it up and pull the trigger.
Frederic, who is from St. Louis, was a first-round pick back in 2016 and should have a role on the Bruins’ fourth line next season, but he hasn’t shown much offense at the pro level. Ultimately, trading a player who looks like a career depth forward shouldn’t be a sticking point in a trade for a true top-six wing.
While most of the talk around the Bruins has been about upgrading the third and fourth lines and not necessarily targeting a top-six player like Tarasenko, he would certainly qualify as an offensive upgrade. If the Bruins re-sign both David Krejci and Taylor Hall, they could put Tarasenko with them on the second line and drop Craig Smith down to the third line, which would certainly help that unit.
Whether the Bruins could or would trade for Tarasenko could come down to how much salary the Blues would be willing to retain. Even with nearly $30 million of cap space going into the offseason, the Bruins probably wouldn’t want to absorb Tarasenko’s full cap hit given that they are also looking to upgrade the left side of their defense.
But if St. Louis retains, say, $1 million per year or more, it becomes a much easier contract to take on and would give the Bruins a little more flexibility to still add on defense, although it probably couldn’t be another high-salary player in that case.
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