The St. Louis Blues, as a whole, dropped a lot of talent when they learned they would be without Vladimir Tarasenko for at least five months. A small caveat is that one portion of the team might have gotten better without him.
The St. Louis Blues power play might be better without Vladimir Tarasenko on it. There, I said it and it is out in the open.
Blues fans that have read this space long enough know I am not one for hot takes. I do not just throw out an idea for clicks and views, just to see how it plays.
It should also be said that I am not one of those that rip on Tarasenko any chance he gets. I fully believe he is a star in this game. We expect more from him because we know he is capable of more, not because we keep hoping he is the next Brett Hull, though there are some out there that think that way. No, this is something I think MIGHT be true and there are those in the know that have floated it out there as well.
The idea that the power play might be better without a prolific scorer seems to cut completely against the grain. However, these are the St. Louis Blues. They seem to do very little the way other teams might.
For years, we have wanted Tarasenko to become the Blues version of Alex Ovechkin. The two share goal scoring prowess overall, as they are the only two players in the NHL that have scored 30-plus goals in each of the last five seasons.
It is Ovechkin’s slap shot and decisiveness that makes him so dangerous on the power play though. In 14-plus seasons, Ovechkin has only failed to get double-digit power play goal totals once. In all the years he has hit double digits, he has only failed to get 16 or more twice.
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Compare that to Tarasenko. Tarasenko has been in the league for 7-plus years and has only hit double-digit power play totals twice. Removing his rookie total of just 3 in 38 games, he’s bounced anywhere from five to 12 goals on the man advantage. That’s a far cry from the career high of 25 power play goals of Ovi.
Not all of that is Tarasenko’s fault – or maybe it is. The one thing the Blues, or Tarasenko himself, have never figured out is where to put him.
Fans have begged to put him on the circle, on his off wing just like Ovechkin. Even if Tarasenko does not have the one-time slap shot ability, his wrister is still quick enough to be deadly from the same type of spot.
Instead, the Blues have bounced him around everywhere. They tried putting him at the blue line, thinking he would be the quarterback. That produced little to no results because Tarasenko would get stuck out that far and wristers are about quickness, not power. It is too hard for him to score from that distance.
They’ve tried having him on the circle, but on the left wing. That is a slightly better area, but also requires more setup time to settle the puck, eye the shot and release before the defense makes its way over.
The Blues have briefly tried him behind the net, in the corners and even in the slot. He’s a strong guy, but he’s not meant to be a net front presence and the other spots just haven’t yielded any success.
However, it might actually be his teammates that cause more of the problem than anything. Several hockey broadcasters, such as Jamie Rivers and several associated with the team’s radio broadcast, have floated the idea that the Blues were looking to feed Tarasenko too much.
Instead of letting the offense flow, pucks were continually funneled to him. When you couple this with Tarasenko’s habitual unselfishness, you end up with stagnation and ineffectiveness.
None of this is to say Tarasenko is the main problem or even one of the bigger problems. There is a second power play unit and in recent history it has been just as ineffective as the top line. Nevertheless, the idea that players, even if subconsciously, are looking to him to make all the plays just as Ovechkin does, sets up this team’s power play unit for failure.
We have a very small sample size, but we have already seen improvements. As of October 30, 2019, the Blues have a power play percentage of over 25% and 10 total goals. The league average is eight goals, so there is not a monumental difference, but anything above average with this power play is good.
The Blues failed to score against Boston, but they racked them up against Los Angeles and Detroit. In those two games, the Blues combined for five power play goals.
Additionally, the puck seems to move much quicker and freer. In several of the last games, every player on the ice touched the puck before a power play goal was scored.
Again, that is not Tarasenko’s fault. Still, it can’t be denied how often we saw the puck go to the point, to Tarasenko on the wall, behind the net, back to Tarasenko and then either he would shoot or it would go back to the blue line.
Now, the puck goes to everyone. The Blues are finding seams in the defense quicker, causing the defensive box to break down more and getting more shots too, which might be more important than anything.
If anything, this is a unit problem, not an individual one. Nobody currently on the Blues has better power play numbers than Tarasenko. Brayden Schenn‘s career high of 17 power play goals is better, but that was with Philadelphia. His numbers with the Blues have been a mixed bag.
David Perron is not consistent enough. Ryan O’Reilly racks up assists, but his goal totals have gone up and down. It is the unit, as a whole, that seems better without Tarasenko right now.
All of this has to be said with a grain of salt.
As of writing this, the Blues have played just two full games, three overall, without Vlady. In Boston, they went 0-4 on the power play, but they did still look better.
It has to be said they were showing signs of improvement while Tarasenko was out there too. Still, sometimes in these instances, a team can play more of a team game when they do not feel the need to give it to the best scorer all the time.
Time will tell how this plays out. The Blues could stagnate again and this article will look incredibly dated. I do not think they will though.
The main thing is this will be based on the eye test as much as anything. Goals come and go dependent on many factors like the penalty kill you’re going against, facing a hot goaltender, guys not taking shots etc. But, if the power play continues to look like an actual power play and put pressure on teams for taking penalties, then you’ve got a success.
That is something we have not seen the last few seasons. It is something, even if coincidentally, we have seen in the absence of Tarasenko.