St. Louis Blues: Grading Blues Performances In October

5 of 8

ST. LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 27: Vladimir Tarasenko #91 of the St. Louis Blues reacts after scoring a goal against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks at Enterprise Center on October 27, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Vladimir Tarasenko

Grade: B

Tarasenko is a perennial goal scorer in the NHL and has reached the 40 goal plateau in his career once in 2015-2016 and has been close to achieving that mark again since.

Last season, he had 33 goals and 33 assists finishing second on the team in points, four behind Jaden Schwartz. Tarasenko has excelled when playing with top-tier talent and coming into the season we knew he would get that opportunity.

He started the year playing with O’Reilly and Maroon and struggled to find offensive success while on five on five. He registered one even-strength goal in the second game of the year against Chicago before being paired with Schwartz and Schenn.

Ever since the switch he and his linemates have found great offensive success picking up where they left off last season. The Schenn-Schwartz-Tarasenko line was one of the best lines in the NHL last year, and it has been one of Mike Yeo’s best adjustments this year.

Historically, Tarasenko has played with players like Paul Stastny and David Backes. Both great in their own ways, Tarasenko has found new success with better playmakers.

If October had ended two weeks ago, Tarasenko would have received a different grade. However, his performances against the Hawks and his goal scored against the Columbus Blue Jackets bumped his grade up significantly.

There is still a lot of season left, and if the Blues want to have success, Tarasenko will need to be at the forefront.

Home/Editorials