St. Louis Blues: Trading Vladimir Tarasenko Would Be A Big Mistake
By Jason Martin
Just like in the classic movie “Pretty Woman” trading St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko would be a big mistake, HUGE!
The St. Louis Blues won the lottery when they drafted Tarasenko in the first round (16 overall) in the 2010 NHL entry level draft. How he fell that far in the draft, I’ll never know, but the Blues ended up with a budding superstar.
There have been reports circulating throughout the league that the Blues may be open to trading Tarasenko. There are not many teams that would be able to afford his contract, he is owed $7.5 million over the next four years.
Only Ryan O’Reilly makes as much as Tarasenko, so finding a trade partner would require a lot of moving parts. For St. Louis, it would allow them to be financially flexible if they were willing to move 91, but moving on from a generational talent does not make any sense.
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This season has been a struggle not only for Tarasenko but for just about every single St. Louis Blue.
He is on pace for about 25 goals this season, which would be his fewest goals in a season since he scored 21 in 2013-2014.
It seemingly seems like every other part of his game is improving, his passing and playmaking ability has taken to new heights.
Unfortunately for his sake and the team’s, it has taken a toll on his goal scoring production. Currently, Tarasenko is on a seven-game scoreless streak, and he has gone at least six games without a goal three times this year.
This is out of character for such a prolific goal scorer. He has been on the record saying how much he loves the city of St. Louis and it’s possible that all the pressure of the new acquisitions over the summer got to his head and his play is declining as a result.
All of the negatives are still not a good reason to trade the Russian sniper. Tarasenko has scored at least 30 goals in four straight seasons and has been a monumental reason why the Blues have had both postseason and regular season success during that stretch.
Even if the Blues tear down the team and sell off key pieces of the core, Tarasenko needs to be kept off that list. St. Louis has plenty of talent in the minors that would allow them to start competing sooner than people realize.
Guys like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Klim Kostin are knocking on the door of becoming full-time NHL players. Thomas has already been locked in as an everyday player in the Blues lineup, but Kyrou has also seen time here and there at the NHL level.
Kostin has been selected by Team Russia to participate in the World Juniors tournament and is one of the Blues top prospects. It’s highly unlikely that we see him in St. Louis this year, but could be a player who makes the team out of training camp next fall.
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A top line of Tarasenko-Thomas-Kyrou does not sound that appealing right now, but two years down the line when both players have had a chance to develop, it could be one of the top lines in the Central Divison.
Trading Tarasenko would be a big mistake, you don’t trade generational talent on your team for any reason, even if you are breaking down the current core of the St. Louis Blues.