Latest On Vladimir Tarasenko
July 8: Last night, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported that Tarasenko actually requested a trade from the Blues earlier this offseason. The Russian winger apparently is “upset with the team’s handling of his shoulder surgeries in 2018 and 2019,” leading to a lack of trust with the organization. According to Rutherford, a trade is not imminent but is still expected at some point.
June 29: The St. Louis Blues have several questions to answer this summer after a disappointing first-round exit. The Colorado Avalanche made quick work of the 2019 Stanley Cup champions, sweeping them in four games with a combined score of 20-6. While pending unrestricted free agents Mike Hoffman, Tyler Bozak, and Jaden Schwartz could be heading for the open market, perhaps a bigger question mark is the future of Vladimir Tarasenko.
There has been trade speculation around Tarasenko for years now, given his injury troubles since that title run in 2019. The 29-year-old winger has played just 34 games over the last two seasons, recording seven goals in the process. For $7.5MM per season, the Blues aren’t getting enough production (even if his injury issues are out of his control) and now the team could be looking to shed that expensive asset. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff writes that Tarasenko is healthy now, but the Blues are exploring the trade market for the talented sniper.
Tarasenko has two years left on his current contract and holds a full no-trade clause, meaning he decides whether the Blues are even able to move him at all. But Seravalli reports that he has “alerted St. Louis to several teams he’d be willing to be dealt” and will likely not block a move. Of course, that does not guarantee that a trade will be completed, but it at least makes him an interesting player to watch this summer.
The Blues only have eight NHL forwards even signed for next season, with key restricted free agents like Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford, Jordan Kyrou, and Robert Thomas all in need of new contracts. Moving out a cap hit like Tarasenko’s makes sense if they want to go long-term and buy out UFA years with any of those young players, especially with other free agent decisions like Colton Parayko coming down the pipe in the near future.
Seller beware though in this case, as Tarasenko has proven to be one of the league’s most dangerous goal scorers when healthy. For five consecutive seasons before his major shoulder injuries, the Russian sniper scored at least 33 goals. That kind of production is incredibly difficult to find in the NHL and if Tarasenko can get back to that level again, a trade may end up looking like a huge mistake for the Blues. Still, GM Doug Armstrong has never been one to shy away from trading out key players if he believes it will improve the team in the short or long term, so the fact that he’s at least exploring a Tarasenko trade shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Mike Van Ryn No Longer In Running For Coyotes Coaching Job
The Arizona Coyotes are still conducting a search for their next head coach, but it won’t be Mike Van Ryn. The St. Louis Blues assistant is officially out of the running according to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. It’s not clear whether that decision came from the team or the coach.
It made sense that Van Ryn would be a candidate, given the fact that Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong was with the Blues for nearly two decades before joining Arizona. The Blues assistant also actually started his NHL coaching career with the Coyotes organization, serving as a development coach in 2016-17 after a stint in the OHL. Arizona has also spoken to candidates including Todd Nelson, Benoit Groulx, Jay Leach and Andre Tourigny as they look to find their next bench boss.
Carl Gunnarsson Announces Retirement
He may have not been the biggest name, play the most important role or score many goals, but Carl Gunnarsson will always be a Stanley Cup champion. The veteran defenseman announced his retirement today, penning a letter to hockey titled “Goodbye to the game I love.” He was scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer at the end of his latest two-year, $3.5MM contract.
Gunnarsson, 34, will likely be remembered best for his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. The defenseman, who had never before scored a playoff goal, apparently predicted the overtime winner while standing next to his coach at the urinal during intermission. Gunnarsson said he needed just “one more chance” and he got it on a delayed penalty just four minutes into the period. A blast from the point beat Tuukka Rask to even the series at one, a moment that will keep the defensive defenseman in St. Louis lore.
There were only 30 other goals in his career, which included more than 300 regular season games for both the Blues and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The seventh-round, 194th-overall pick made quite a name for himself over the years, but will now hang up his skates and transition to the next part of his life.
Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league missing the playoffs and several more having since been eliminated. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at St. Louis.
While the Blues managed to secure the final playoff spot in the West Division, it was a bit of a tough year for them. On paper, the roster was good enough to be a threat but it didn’t materialize into much success and they were swept by Colorado in the opening round. With a lot of money coming off the books this summer, GM Doug Armstrong will have an opportunity to reshape his team (or keep most of it intact if he prefers that option). Here is a look at what will be on his to-do list this summer.
Berube Decision
While we saw several teams go with a coach in the final year of their contract, that isn’t always the case as some teams want to at least get a small extension in place to avoid any potential for distraction. Head coach Craig Berube will be in the final season of the three-year deal he signed after having the interim tag removed following their Stanley Cup victory in 2019.
Armstrong will need to decide if he’s comfortable with Berube being the head coach beyond next season and if so, they may as well try to work a deal out now. Or, if he’s uncertain about if he is the ideal long-term fit (two first-round exits could raise some questions on that front), he will need to decide if he’s comfortable starting the season with Berube on the final year of his deal. With several teams doing that this year, it will be easier to justify that option if Armstrong decides to wait a little longer before making that call.
Re-Sign Or Replace Schwartz
Jaden Schwartz has been a regular in St. Louis’ lineup for the better part of a decade now. He certainly has battled injuries at times but he has five seasons of 55 or more points under his belt and is a valuable part of their top-six. The 28-year-old is set to hit the open market for the first time this summer and his case should be one of the more interesting ones around the league.
2020-21 was not a good season at all for Schwartz. He had just eight goals and 13 assists in 40 games this season, per-game rates that were only higher than his rookie season when he was only playing a dozen minutes a night in a limited role. That certainly doesn’t provide a great case for a raise. However, three of those 55-point or more campaigns came in three of the four previous years so there is definitely some track record of recent success.
A couple of years ago, Schwartz would have been in line for a long-term deal around his $5.35MM cap hit that he had this season and probably a little bit higher. However, the UFA market was tough on most wingers last fall and with teams in a similar cap crunch now, it seems likely that this will be the case again this summer. All of a sudden, there’s a definite possibility that Schwartz is facing a reduction in pay.
If they’re unable to come to terms on a new deal, Armstrong could pivot to someone like Mike Hoffman, another Blues UFA. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to afford to keep both but if Schwartz decides to move on, they could have his replacement in-house already.
Dunn Deal
Vince Dunn is no stranger to trade speculation. The 24-year-old has basically been there for a couple of years now to the point where it was well-known early in the season that he was available. While his point total went down last season (not just due to the pandemic), he did very quietly turn things around on that front, collecting 20 points in 43 games this year, numbers that if extrapolated over an 82-game season, would have been the best of his young career.
How things got to this point is certainly a little odd. While he isn’t the best in his own zone, he’s a strong skater and puck-mover, elements that are more important from the back end now and he even stepped into more of a top-four role this season. On the surface, it would seem like he’s the type of player that should be a core piece, not a trade chip for basically half of his NHL career.
It also should be noted that expansion could be playing a role here. Colton Parayko is a lock to be protected (and is someone that the Blues undoubtedly will be talking about an extension with when he’s eligible to sign one in late July) as is Torey Krug. If they’re only protecting three, that last spot will be Dunn, Justin Faulk (who had a nice bounce-back season after a tough first year in St. Louis), and Marco Scandella. If Armstrong would rather protect one of the latter two, it makes more sense to find a trade taker for Dunn before protection lists are due.
Even if they don’t do the trade route, there’s still work to be done for Dunn as he is once again a restricted free agent, this time with salary arbitration. Last time, the Blues held the cards as they had limited cap space and Dunn didn’t have the ability to file for a hearing and they were able to get an affordable one-year deal out of it. This time around, Dunn will be well-positioned for a sizable raise although it remains to be seen which team will be the one giving it to him.
Add A Veteran Goaltender
For several years, Ville Husso was viewed as the goalie of the future for the Blues and was even ahead of Jordan Binnington on the organizational depth chart at one point (which has clearly changed since then). With Jake Allen being traded to Montreal in a cap-saving move last year, Husso finally had an opportunity to be the backup goaltender.
However, it didn’t go particularly well. The 26-year-old posted a save percentage of just .893 with a GAA of 3.20 in 17 games this season, numbers that didn’t reach the league average on both fronts. It’s certainly possible that he can improve – he has had some very strong seasons in the minors – but it would be risky to have him as the uncontested backup heading into next season as well.
Part of the allure in having Husso as the backup is a cap hit that will be at the league minimum next year which frees up money to spend elsewhere. Bringing in a more proven option could cost another couple of million and with over $66MM committed already and a few notable players needing new deals, it could be a tight squeeze to manage. If it’s one they can’t afford in their salary structure, then at least bringing in a veteran that could start in the minors but could push for playing time would be a reasonable backup plan. It could be a small addition that goes under the radar but would still be a useful one.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Expansion Primer: St. Louis Blues
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
In the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the St. Louis Blues opted to protect expiring assets and role players like Patrik Berglund, Ryan Reaves, and Vladimir Sobotka and as a result lost top-six forward David Perron to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Blues watched as Perron enjoyed what was then the best season of his NHL career and led the Knights to the Stanley Cup Final while they missed the playoffs.
Fortunately, the team learned from their mistakes. They re-signed Perron the following season, won the Stanley Cup, and now three years later Perron is coming off the best campaign of his career. This time around he will be safe, as will most of the Blues’ top players. However, a deep, talented roster will not be able to completely avoid another impact loss in expansion.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Sam Anas, Ivan Barbashev, Sammy Blais, Kyle Clifford, Jacob de La Rose, Tanner Kaspick, Jordan Kyrou, Mackenzie MacEachern, Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Zach Sanford, Brayden Schenn, Nolan Stevens, Oskar Sundqvist, Vladimir Tarasenko, Robert Thomas
Defense:
Robert Bortuzzo, Vince Dunn, Justin Faulk, Niko Mikkola, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, Steven Santini, Marco Scandella, Jake Walman
Goalies:
Jordan Binnington, Evan Fitzpatrick, Ville Husso
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
F Tyler Bozak, D Carl Gunnarsson, F Mike Hoffman, F Jaden Schwartz
Notable Exemptions
G Joel Hofer, F Dakota Joshua, F Klim Kostin, F Jake Neighbours, D Scott Perunovich
Key Decisions
In contrast to successful team-building, depth and long-term security are the enemy of the Expansion Draft. The St. Louis Blues have built a strong roster with talent throughout the lineup and most of those players are signed beyond this season. With only eight skaters or seven forwards and three defenseman who can be protected, the Blues will expose a number of valuable assets and there is little they can do about it. But they will try.
The first question for the Blues is really what protection scheme to use, which comes down to x-factor number one: Vince Dunn. Following a resurgent season, Dunn was back in the good graces of St. Louis, at least until the trade talks returned of late. As promising as the 24-year-old defenseman may be, the Blues have refrained from giving him a true top-four role and he has also failed to produce top-four numbers. He was fifth in average time on ice among St. Louis defensemen in 2020-21 and while he was third in defensive scoring, most of his production came on the power play. He was fifth in blocked shots and fifth in hits, noticeably behind Krug in both, a player that specializes in neither. While he skates well, Dunn is susceptible to turnovers and is caught out of position frequently. When determining whether or not to protect Dunn, the upside argument for is strong, but the depth argument against is stronger. Compared to Faulk and Krug, the Blues’ two best all-around defensemen this season who the club has committed extensive money and term to, and Parayko, who has a unique blend of size and skill and has been steady throughout his career, it is hard to claim that Dunn is more worthy of protection in a 7-3 scheme despite his age and potential.
With all that said, there is a way to keep Dunn in addition to the three likely locks for protection on the blue line. The Blues could instead go with the eight-skater protection scheme, in which Dunn faces a much easier battle for a protection slot with the veteran Scandella. Of course, the trade-off for the Blues in protecting Dunn is exposing three extra forwards. Depth comes in to play here as well, as the forward corps is no different than the defense in terms of too many valuable players. With top scorer and 2017 Expansion casualty Perron locked in, as well as captain and elite two-way center O’Reilly, consistent top scorer Schenn, and all-world sniper Tarasenko, Dunn’s competition for protection are other fellow young players. Would the Blues really rather keep him over breakout rookie Kyrou? Or promising 21-year-old Thomas? It seems very unlikely, even as Dunn showed improvement this year. And thus the trade rumors. St. Louis will do its best not to lose Dunn for nothing given the promise he has shown, but if they are unable to make a trade before the Expansion Draft, they will let Seattle have the option of taking him over a future top-six forward.
The scheme resolution and acceptance that Dunn would be an attractive target if left exposed doesn’t make the decisions up front any easier for the Blues though. Even with seven forwards under protection, there will still be talent available to the Kraken. This is where x-factor number two comes in: Jaden Schwartz. Perron, O’Reilly, Schenn, Tarasenko, Kyrou, and Thomas are not going anywhere. Sure, there is some debate over Perron’s age or Tarasenko’s injury concerns, but neither argument is strong enough to leave a player of their caliber exposed. So, the Blues have one spot left at forward. Currently, Schwartz is slated for unrestricted free agency. The long-time St. Louis top-sixer may be too expensive for the team to re-sign, especially as he eyes a weak free agent market, but they will try. If the Blues come to an agreement with Schwartz before the Expansion Draft, they may decide to officially sign him or protect him as a UFA. Once Seattle has a chance to speak with Schwartz, their offer could mark the end of any handshake agreement he had with the Blues, so St. Louis could want the added security.
The other possibility is that the Blues either don’t reach an agreement with Schwartz in time or simply decide that using a protection slot on a UFA is not worth it. This does not rule out a Schwartz return to St. Louis, but it does open up the conversation of who else is deserving of that final spot. Impending free agents Bozak and Hoffman are unlikely to return and will not be protected and checking forwards Clifford and MacEachern, while valued, don’t stand up against the team’s top-nine options. Barbashev, Blais, Sanford, and Sundqvist will all be in consideration and all have a decent case for protection.
Sanford was the leading scorer of the bunch this season, but each of the other three missed time, especially Sundqvist whose season was lost to a torn ACL midway through the year. On a per-game basis, it was actually Blais that led the way. Blais is also the youngest of the group and the most physical, which could give him a leg up. Then again, Blais also had the lowest time on ice per game and contributed the least on special teams. Barbashev was the only positive player of the group and the possession leader. The decision may be one of the tightest for any team at any position, especially with four valid options. As a result, it may not come down to performance at all. Sundqvist, though a great defensive forward, is coming off of a major injury and has two years left on his current contract at $2.75MM. The Kraken would be taking a risk by selecting him, which likely leaves him exposed. Barbashev and Sanford have been in the NHL for a similar amount of time and have similar career offensive numbers. However, the more important thing that they both have in common is that they are both unsigned restricted free agents. If that does not change before the Expansion Draft, it makes both players less likely to be selected – if only slightly – as Seattle must take 20 players with term of their 30 picks, meaning Barbashev or Sanford would have to be deemed worthy of one of a maximum ten slots for RFA’s and UFA’s. It also stands to reason that either one could replace the loss of the other. This leaves Blais as the unique member of the group: healthy, under contract, and not to mention coming off a season in which he showed flashes of top-six potential. He may not be the best player of the four, but he is the safest pick for protection.
Finally, in goal there is no decision at all. Binnington is the unrivaled starter and the clear protection selection. Though he has been slow to develop, Fitzpatrick finally showed this season in the AHL the potential that made him a second-round draft choice, but it isn’t enough to usurp Binnington.
Projected Protection List
F Sammy Blais
F Jordan Kyrou
F Ryan O’Reilly
F David Perron
F Brayden Schenn
F Vladimir Tarasenko
F Robert Thomas
D Justin Faulk
D Torey Krug
D Colton Parayko
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (3): Kyle Clifford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Oskar Sundqvist
Defensemen (3): Robert Bortuzzo, Niko Mikkola, Marco Scandella
The Blues have the type of roster where they may want to look into a trade with Seattle for the Kraken to select a specific player in exchange for a draft pick or prospect rather than leaving so many valuable players exposed. Even with their seven best forwards, top three defensemen, and starting goalie protected, St. Louis faces the certainty of impact loss. If not traded beforehand, Dunn would be a major loss. If Sundqvist returns to full strength, he too would be a player the Blues would really miss and would be an asset to the Kraken. Either of Sanford or Barbashev could break out in a greater role in Seattle. Even prospect goalie Fitzpatrick or veteran defenseman Scandella would hurt. Would it be worth a mid-round pick just to hand-pick who was leaving ahead of time?
St. Louis has all the incentive to leave their pending UFA’s exposed in hopes that Seattle takes the bait. The team could very well be interested in all three of Schwartz, Hoffman, and Bozak, considering the former two will be top free agent scorers and the latter could help to address a need down the middle that expansion teams tend to have. However, there is such enticing value available to the Kraken elsewhere, that they too have incentive to talk to the Blues’ UFA’s but not select them, opting for a current roster player instead with the opportunity to circle back on any of Schwartz, Hoffman, or Bozak on the open market. Seattle could also take advantage of a vulnerable Blues team to add a valuable draft pick, still select a solid player, and again turn around and sign a free agent. There are many opportunities for the Kraken – far more than St. Louis would like.
St. Louis Blues Extend Tanner Kaspick
The St. Louis Blues are already getting started with their off-season moves. The team has announced that minor league forward Tanner Kaspick has signed a new one-year, two-way contract extension. The deal includes a raise at the NHL level (by default) and AHL level, moving from his entry-level values of $739K and $70K in the minors to the increased league minimum of $750K and slight uptick to $80K in the AHL. Kaspick, 23, was set to be a restricted free agent this summer.
If Kaspick’s name is unfamiliar, it shouldn’t be a surprise. The forward has yet to make his mark on the NHL through three pro seasons. A 2016 fourth-round pick out of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings following their league championship, Kaspick went on to captain the team before joining St. Louis in 2018. He spent his first two seasons with the San Antonio Rampage before joining the Utica Comets this year when the Blues’ new AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, announced they would sit out the 2020-21 season. In 125 career AHL games, he has recorded 27 points, but only 20 games and five points came this year as Utica tried to balance a mass amount of prospects and remained focused on developing those of their own parent club, the Vancouver Canucks.
While St. Louis clearly sees Kaspick as valuable to the club, his ceiling appears to be as a fourth-line forward in the NHL. His final two seasons in the WHL included impressive scoring, but that has fallen off tremendously in the pros. Instead, Kaspick’s high-end hockey IQ and sizeable 6’1″, 205-lb. frame appear to be his greatest assets rather than his scoring skill and could lead to him to taking on a checking and penalty kill role at the next level. However, after a relatively inactive season, not to mention a deep St. Louis forward corps, he will likely stay in the AHL for at least one more season before having the opportunity to see any consistent NHL action.
Coyotes To Interview Mike Van Ryn For Head Coaching Vacancy
The Coyotes will interview Blues assistant coach Mike Van Ryn for their vacant head coaching position on Monday, reports Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider (Twitter link). That spot was opened up at the end of the season when Rick Tocchet’s contract was not renewed after four years behind the bench.
The 42-year-old played in parts of eight injury-plagued NHL seasons with the Blues, Panthers, and Maple Leafs before retiring at the age of 31 to start his coaching career. Since then, he has been a head coach in the OHL and AHL as well as an assistant in the OHL and NHL.
Van Ryn spent two years with Arizona in 2016-17 and 2017-18 as a development coach and head coach with AHL Tucson (where he coached a handful of current Coyotes including Conor Garland and Lawson Crouse) so he has some familiarity with the organization. From there, he went to St. Louis, joining their bench as an assistant coach in 2018. GM Bill Armstrong was with the Blues before joining the Coyotes so he would be quite familiar with Van Ryn as well; the two overlapped for two seasons.
Arizona isn’t in a spot where they’re hoping to become contenders right away so a pricey veteran bench boss probably isn’t what Armstrong is looking for. Most of their core group is still fairly young so a younger coach may be the better way to go. While Van Ryn hasn’t garnered much head coaching consideration elsewhere, this fit could be a good one for both sides.
Teams Asking About Vince Dunn
The St. Louis Blues have a very busy offseason coming up after a first-round sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Bozak, and Mike Hoffman are all unrestricted free agents, while Zach Sanford, Ivan Barbashev, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou are all set to become restricted free agents. One other name without a contract for next season is pending RFA defenseman Vince Dunn, who has been on and off the trade block all season.
Tonight, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet indicated that Dunn’s name is once again coming up in preliminary trade talks:
One of the players I think some teams are beginning to ask about is Vince Dunn of the St. Louis Blues.
There was a time during the year where the Blues were thinking about maybe moving him, they were asking for a first-round pick in return. I’m hearing some chatter around him right now, we’ll see what his future is.
Dunn, 24, settled for a one-year $1.875MM contract just a few days before Blues camp opened this season but will have the advantage of salary arbitration this time around. Despite being a healthy scratch early in the season and seeing his name in trade rumors all year, Dunn actually ended up averaging more minutes this season than any of his previous campaigns and scored at a strong rate. His 20 points in 43 games put him on a per-game pace ahead of teammate Justin Faulk, and continued the strong offensive performance he’s had through the first four years of his career.
Since he came into the NHL in 2017-18, Dunn’s 32 goals actually tie him for 27th among all defensemen. His 102 points put him 60th among NHL defenders over the same period, certainly someone that many teams around the league could use. An excellent puck-mover and powerplay quarterback, his defensive consistency has gotten him in trouble with head coach Craig Berube at times. That certainly doesn’t mean the Blues will just throw him away though, as seen by the first-round asking price they had earlier this season.
The question really is whether the team wants to commit more cap space to the back end, which already has nearly $22MM tied up in the quartet of Faulk, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, and Marco Scandella. Of that group, three are signed long-term and Parayko, who perhaps is the most important of all, is a pending unrestricted free agent after next season.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong has never been one to shy away from making a trade to improve the club, sending out players like Jake Allen, Robby Fabbri, Joel Edmundson, Paul Stastny, and Kevin Shattenkirk over the last several years. If he finds a deal for Dunn that makes sense, it seems likely that the team would move on from the young defenseman.
No Contract Talks Yet Between Blues And Jaden Schwartz
- The Blues have not started talks regarding a new deal for winger Jaden Schwartz yet, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 28-year-old had a tough showing this season, notching just eight goals and 13 assists in 40 games. However, he had at least 55 points in three of the last four seasons and five of the last seven so his camp will undoubtedly be using that in talks. He played on a $5.35MM AAV this season and even in this cap environment, he could conceivably try to push for a small raise.
St. Louis Blues Sign Keean Washkurak
The St. Louis Blues have signed prospect Keean Washkurak ahead of today’s deadline, inking the young forward to a three-year entry-level contract. Washkurak appears to be an oversight on CapFriendly’s list of expiring draft rights, as his also would have expired if not signed today given he was selected out of the OHL in 2019. The confusion likely comes from Washkurak spending most of this season with HK Levice of the Slovakian league, but a return to North America and the AHL last month on an amateur tryout would have put his timeline back on its original track.
Washkurak, 19, scored 19 points in 21 games overseas but was more notable for his physicality. He led the league in penalty minutes with 110 in the regular season and added another 26 in the playoffs. Even though he stands at just 5’10”, Washkurak has always been known for his ability to “play bigger,” being compared to 6’5″ power forwards for his strength and fearlessness.
Originally selected in the fifth round, he recorded 52 points in 49 games for the Mississauga Steelheads in 2019-20 and will try to continue his offensive development in the Blues’ system. He’ll turn 20 later this summer and can go right to the AHL next year, after getting into three games with the Utica Comets down the stretch.