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Vladimir Tarasenko

“Good Chance” Vladimir Tarasenko Returns On Blues’ Upcoming Trip

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The St. Louis Blues will start a six-game road trip tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks and at some point during it, will likely get a big boost. Vladimir Tarasenko was a full participant in practice today and afterward, head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that there is a “good chance” the sniper returns at some point during the trip.

Tarasenko last played in an NHL game during the postseason bubble but hasn’t suited up for a regular season game since October 24, 2019. He was limited to just 10 games last season, the first injury-riddled campaign of his career. The winger had played in at least 76 games in each of the five seasons previous, scoring at least 33 goals in each of them. That kind of offensive consistency is hard to come by, meaning his return should be an incredible addition for a Blues team looking to go on a deep playoff run.

When it was revealed that Tarasenko was likely to return this season, the question became how the Blues would fit him in under the salary cap. That question is at least partially answered now that Alex Steen and Carl Gunnarsson are out for the year, giving the team quite a bit more long-term injured reserve space. The Blues will still have to make a few transactions, but Tarasenko doesn’t push them over the top as much as once believed.

His return comes at a perfect time for the 2019 Cup champions, as they’re actually mired in a three-game losing streak and have scored just one goal in their past two. While they still sit second in the West Division standings, that’s in part due to playing 20 games already–only the Anaheim Ducks have played that many.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Zuccarello, Werenski

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Vladimir Tarasenko was back on the ice with his teammates today when the St. Louis Blues hit the ice in Arizona, a great sign as he continues to recover from his latest shoulder surgery. On February 3, Blues GM Doug Armstrong told reporters that his Russian sniper was still weeks away, but things were promising. Seeing him in a regular practice jersey with his teammates indicates that his return isn’t as far away as it once seemed.

When he is healthy enough to return, the question will be how exactly the Blues fit him in. The team is currently more than $7MM into their long-term injured reserve relief and though Alex Steen’s $5.75MM cap hit covers a lot of that, adding Tarasenko back onto the books won’t be easy. That has led to the trade chatter surrounding Vince Dunn increasing again, this time with some additional cap-clearing motivation.

  • Speaking of West Division forwards that are coming back from offseason surgery, the Minnesota Wild had Mats Zuccarello back at practice for the first time today, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. Zuccarello is only in the second season of a five-year, $30MM contract for the Wild, meaning his return to form would be a crucial boost for a team fighting to make the postseason. At his best, Zuccarello has been a top playmaking winger that can elevate the performance of his linemates. Whether the 33-year-old can get back to that level is not at all clear.
  • Zach Werenski is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, or at least that is what Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella implied to reporters today, including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Werenski has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and is off to a rather slow start this season with just four points in 12 games. After scoring 20 goals and 41 points in just 63 games last season, big things were expected of the fifth-year defenseman.

Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Bruins, Walker, Stenlund

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There appears to be some good news at least on the horizon for the Blues.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Doug Armstrong indicated that winger Vladimir Tarasenko has resumed skating as he works his way back from offseason surgery:

His shoulder certainly isn’t 100 percent right now, but it’s at a point where the safety mechanisms are in place where we feel he can skate. He can receive passes, make passes, and shoot to a level of his comfort.  He’s still aways away. We won’t see him for a number of weeks, but he certainly is on the right track.

Tarasenko has been out since re-aggravating his previous shoulder injury back in the bubble which played a role in the Blues signing Mike Hoffman just before the season started.  While it will be several weeks yet before he returns, he’s on track to be a big second-half addition to a team that has gotten off to a solid start this season with a 7-2-1 record.

More injury news and notes from around the league:

  • Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk have resumed skating as they continue to recover from their respective lower-body injuries, notes Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now. Neither player is expected to suit up on Friday when their current road trip comes to an end while their next two games against Buffalo have already been postponed.  That would appear to have them in line to return a week tonight against the Rangers.
  • Kings defenseman Sean Walker will have surgery on his nose and is expected to miss the next two-to-four weeks, reports Lisa Dillman of The Athletic (Twitter link). He took a slapshot to the face in the third period of Thursday’s game and hasn’t played since.  Los Angeles placed Walker on injured reserve yesterday.
  • The Blue Jackets announced that they have activated Kevin Stenlund off injured reserve. The center suffered an upper-body injury last week that held him out of the last four games.  Stenlund had gotten off to a good start before getting injured with a goal and an assist in his first two games.

St. Louis Blues Place Vladimir Tarasenko On LTIR

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The St. Louis Blues had to wait until the first day of the regular season, but as expected, Vladimir Tarasenko has been placed on long-term injured reserve. The move allows them to recall both Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from their taxi squad.

Tarasenko, 29, will miss the first part of the regular season following his multiple shoulder surgeries and is set to be re-evaluated in February. The powerful winger was able to play in just ten regular season games last season but did manage to return for four postseason contests. He seemed a shadow of himself in those matches, recording zero points and now it’s unclear exactly what kind of season he’ll be able to put together in 2021.

The Blues have now used long-term injured reserve for both Tarasenko and Alex Steen, though as CapFriendly explains on Twitter they actually were unable to maximize the relief available. Moving Tarasenko to LTIR gives them his full $7.5MM in room, at least until he returns to the lineup later in the season. That’s why Kyrou and MacEachern can move back to the active roster.

The team will now be able to fill those two taxi squad spots with other names, providing even more depth for the NHL team to travel with.

St. Louis Blues Name Ryan O’Reilly Captain

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The St. Louis Blues not only lost a Norris-level defenseman but also lost their captain when Alex Pietrangelo decided to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights in free agency. Today, one of those things has been restored, with the Blues’ announcement that Ryan O’Reilly will serve as captain moving forward. O’Reilly will be the 23rd captain in franchise history and is joined by Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Colton Parayko, who will serve as alternates. Blues head coach Craig Berube explained just why O’Reilly was the choice:

Ryan’s work ethic on and off the ice and his commitment day in and day out is second to none. He leads by example with how hard he works during practices and our games and he relays the right message from our coaching staff to our entire team.

O’Reilly, 29, has actually only been in St. Louis for two seasons but is already a franchise icon. The team’s second Conn Smythe winner, he led the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019 with a playoff-leading 23 points in 26 games. That followed a 77-point season, a career-high of O’Reilly, but it’s really not even his offense that is so important to the team. The 2019 Selke Trophy winner is one of the very best defensive forwards in the entire world, shutting down the middle of the ice while always among the league leaders in faceoff wins. He has received votes for the Selke in each of the last ten seasons, starting when he was just a 19-year-old for the Colorado Avalanche.

Not only does O’Reilly drive offense and shut down opponents, but he also almost never takes a penalty, recording just 106 PIM over his 804-game career, 46 of those coming in his first three seasons. He won the Lady Byng trophy in 2014 when he took just a single minor penalty, a feat he repeated in 2017-18. Though that lack of penalties isn’t a flashy stat, it’s more important than you might think given that O’Reilly is so important on the penalty kill. When it’s never him serving, he’s always available to take crucial defensive-zone draws for the Blues.

All of that makes O’Reilly one of the best players on the Blues, but his leadership off the ice and camaraderie with teammates also likely made this an easy choice for the coaching staff. With three years left on his contract, St. Louis has found their leader for at least the next few seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Central Notes: Dubnyk, Bishop, Tarasenko

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With free agency approaching quickly, the buyout window opens up on Friday.  One player that has been a speculative candidate to be bought out is Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk.  He’s coming off a tough season that saw him post a 3.35 GAA and a .890 SV% in 30 games, numbers that aren’t good enough to justify his $4.33MM cap hit.  However, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that at this time, Minnesota isn’t planning to buy the 34-year-old out.  With Alex Stalock outplaying him this season and Kaapo Kahkonen getting closer to being NHL-ready, it’s difficult to see where Dubnyk will fit for them next season but at this point, they’re not prepared to pay him to not play for them.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • Stars goaltender Ben Bishop will not be available when they start the Stanley Cup Final tonight, relays Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The veteran has had the designation for most of the postseason although he made a surprise start in the fifth game of their series against Colorado though he didn’t make it through a period before being pulled.  Jake Oettinger should remain Anton Khudobin’s backup until Bishop is cleared to return.  Radek Faksa and Stephen Johns remain out as well.
  • Blues GM Doug Armstrong told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Vladimir Tarasenko’s shoulder surgery went well and that they believe the initial recovery timeline is intact. That would have him being evaluated sometime in February with a return coming after that.  Even if next season is delayed from the planned December 1st start date (a likely scenario at this point), it appears as if the winger will still miss some time.  Armstrong also added that “a couple” of other players underwent minor procedures although he declined to mention who or what needed to be done.

Vladimir Tarasenko Undergoes Third Shoulder Surgery

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Sep 9: Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest reports that Tarasenko has undergone successful surgery with no complications. Now the tough part begins as the Blues sniper will begin his rehab in an attempt to return to action.

Aug 26: The evaluation is complete and it’s not good news for Vladimir Tarasenko. The St. Louis Blues forward will undergo another shoulder surgery next week and will not be re-evaluated for five months.

Tarasenko, 28, missed almost the entire 2019-20 season after suffering a major shoulder injury at the end of October. He played just ten games, but was able to work hard enough to recover in time for the return to play format. Unfortunately, after just four scoreless games in the bubble, Tarasenko returned to St. Louis for examination. This result puts the start of the 2020-21 season into question and may raise even more about his playing future.

There’s no doubt that when healthy, Tarasenko is one of the league’s top goal-scorers. Over a five-year span before this season he tallied 182 goals in 395 games, a total topped by only Alex Ovechkin (236 goals) and John Tavares (183). His pure power and lethal wrist shot have made him one of the most feared players in the league when the puck is on his stick.

Tarasenko has three years remaining on his current contract which carries a $7.5MM cap hit through the end of the 2022-23 season. He has a full no-trade clause.

Vladimir Tarasenko To Leave Bubble

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When Vladimir Tarasenko was cleared to return to action for the St. Louis Blues as the season restarted, it was a huge boost for a club looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. After suiting up just four times and being held scoreless, however, there was obviously something wrong with the superstar winger.

Tarasenko will now leave the bubble in Edmonton to return to St. Louis and consult with team doctors on his surgically-repaired shoulder. An update will be given next Monday, meaning he will not be available for the rest of their first-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.

The 28-year old winger missed games three and four against the Canucks, despite playing nearly 22 minutes in a game two overtime loss. Before the restart, he had last played on October 24, 2019, missing almost the entire 2019-20 season due to his shoulder surgery.

Snapshots: Kubalik, Gostisbehere, Tarasenko, Clutterbuck

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The Blackhawks have started preliminary talks about a new contract for winger Dominik Kubalik, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required).  GM Stan Bowman recently met with Kubalik’s agent while in Prague and the expectation is that they will meet again before the season comes to an end.  The 24-year-old rookie has been a pleasant surprise in Chicago this year as he leads the team in goals with 29 and has certainly been worth the fifth-round pick they sent Los Angeles to get his rights last season.  Even though he’s only in his rookie season, Kubalik is arbitration-eligible this summer which will only make things that much more complicated.  A short-term deal given Chicago’s salary structure is the likely outcome here.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Although Shayne Gostisbehere had been out with recurring knee issues, the Flyers still received some interest in the defenseman leading up to the trade deadline, reports Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. However, GM Chuck Fletcher opted to hold onto the 26-year-old who has seen his offensive numbers fall off considerably this season as he has just a dozen points in 41 games which isn’t a great return on a $4.5MM AAV.  Gostisbehere is now healthy but is currently serving as Philadelphia’s seventh defender.  However, despite being out of the lineup for now, he indicated that he is happy to remain with the Flyers, the only NHL team he has played for.
  • Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko will begin participating in contact drills on their upcoming road trip, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That’s a big development for the veteran who has been out since late October with a shoulder injury.  The expectation that he’d return late in the year played a big role in a quiet trade deadline for St. Louis but if he’ll be starting contact drills next week, he could be back a bit earlier than expected which would be a big boost for a team that’s already in the top ten in goals scored this season.
  • The Islanders announced (via Twitter) that they’ve activated Cal Clutterbuck off LTIR in advance of today’s game against Boston. The winger has missed more than two months due to a wrist injury sustained just before the holiday break.  While he won’t make a big difference offensively, the physical dimension he brings will certainly be welcomed for the stretch run.

Blues’ Armstrong Speaks On Chris Kreider Interest

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St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong met with the media today to discuss the quiet trade deadline, and eventually got to the subject of Chris Kreider. The Blues had showed interest in the New York Rangers winger, but Armstrong explained that they really couldn’t go down that path once they learned that Vladimir Tarasenko would be back this season:

The interest level waned quite honestly when we knew Vladdy was coming back. In a different world if I was managing the St. Louis Blues in the late-90s, yeah we would have been really interested. It’s only the owner’s money and I wouldn’t care about it.

But there’s a salary cap situation that is in place now. Knowing that to bring Krieder in knowing Vladdy is coming back we would have had to remove X amount of millions of dollars of contract to do that. We weren’t willing to go deep into our core group, upsetting the chemistry that we had for a potential short-term thing.

Armstrong would go on to explain that he’s not surprised Kreider would eventually sign a seven-year, $45.5MM to stay in New York. The speedy winger will be a core piece to build around for the Rangers as they look to jump into their next real competitive window.

For the Blues, Tarasenko’s return would have a huge impact on the team’s chances at defending their Stanley Cup championship. Armstrong is hoping the Russian star will be back for more than three or four games before the start of the playoffs, even saying “closer to twenty [games] than three, I’d be happy.”

The Blues were one of the only teams that were quiet at the deadline, and the executive explained that a big factor in that was not wanting to upset the chemistry the team has built. A “room full of champions” now, St. Louis is in first place in the Western Conference with a 36-17-10 record. While Kreider may have given them another weapon, they are already good enough to compete and contend for another title.

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