Winners, Losers and Overreactions to the Vladimir Tarasenko-to-the-Rangers Trade

A saga spanning almost two years since Vladimir Tarasenko first requested a trade has officially ended: The 31-year-old winger, who has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Blues, is headed to the Rangers.

The Blues get their former draft pick, Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick in the deal. In return, New York gets Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola. St. Louis will retain 50 percent of impending unrestricted free agent Tarasenko's $7.5 million cap hit, per CapFriendly.

Tarasenko's built a career off his sniping shot, so there was a healthy level of concern around his future when he had to get three surgeries on his left shoulder in 28 months, with the last coming in late 2020. But at the time, experts told The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford that Tarasenko "no doubt" would be "100 percent" ready for the upcoming season.

He followed that statement with a career-high 82 points in 75 games and his sixth 30-plus-goal season in 2021-22.

His 2022-23 has been a bit derailed because of an unrelated hand injury, but let's be honest: The 23-25-3 Blues are struggling. Tarasenko's still got 10 goals and 29 points in 38 games, and his underlying metrics are sound.

The gut reaction: I loved this for the Rangers when the news first broke, but then I saw the 50 percent salary retention and loved it even more. At the same time, the Tarasenko dilemma had dragged on for a while on the Blues' end and I respect the decision to salvage a first-rounder instead of letting him walk.

I wonder if the clubs have remained friendly since the Rangers traded Pavel Buchnevich to the Blues for Blais and a second-round pick in July 2021. Buchnevich has been a point-per-game player in St. Louis, so let's consider the favor returned in the Tarasenko sweepstakes.

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Winners: The Rangers

New York has been such an exciting team to watch, as the "kids," such as Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière, have grown into their talent, but with powerhouse Igor Shesterkin in net and All-Stars Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox performing at a high level, the rebuild is ahead of schedule.

Why not capitalize on the early arrival to the party with the addition of a veteran talent who has Stanley Cup experience and can still put the puck in the net?

I keep going back to the importance of the two first-round picks in general manager Chris Drury's pocket. It's much easier to feel good about this deal when there's another high-end prospect just waiting to be selected.

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Then you look at the other options on the table—ESPN's Emily Kaplan reports the Rangers had concern over Patrick Kane's hip. Kane's got a higher cap hit ($10.5 million), a steeper decline and perhaps more eyes on him at the moment. With the Blues eating half of Tarasenko's salary, the positional fit and the foresight allowing the Rangers to keep a first-round draft pick, I really like this for them.

And we haven't even discussed Mikkola yet. If there's one thing I've learned from covering the NHL playoffs, it's that you can never have enough depth defensemen.

Injuries are inevitable when it comes to the guys who play the most minutes per night and block the most shots, and these are also the guys expected to kill every penalty when the best in the league are giving it their all during those playoff power plays.

The skill and finesse of Fox and K'Andre Miller are a huge part of the Rangers' ahead-of-schedule success, but they need some help with pure defense if they are to truly do their thing, and insurance on the back end is never a bad thing.

The 6'4" Mikkola fits in the budget with his $1.9 million cap hit (which is probably a bit too expensive, but oh well). He was averaging 16:41 of ice time with St. Louis this season, was third on the team in blocked shots with 68 and had the most short-handed time on ice on the Blues.

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Now, the Blues' penalty kill has been atrocious, so don't expect Mikkola to jump on the Rangers and change the complexion of the defense in some profound way. But I like him in a third-pairing role, and he's a great insurance option to have around—especially as a toss-in from a larger deal.

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Losers: The Blues

I'm hesitant to start chanting "loser" at Blues GM Doug Armstrong with an L on my forehead—this isn't a bad or head-scratching decision. I'll even give the front office props for salvaging multiple picks—including a first-rounder—and a fringe NHLer whom they know well.

I'll also say it's hard to think of a team that has been more confusing the past few seasons than the Blues. A team like the Predators is so mediocre that you get so frustrated and almost want them to give it up and start tanking.

The Blues can look like the best team in the world for stretches and then lose eight straight games out of nowhere. From an asset standpoint, I understand wanting to hold on to your franchise player until knowing that making the playoffs isn't likely.

When you add the uncertainty that comes with the shoulder surgeries, you can understand why trading Tarasenko has taken so long since his initial request.

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When it comes down to who "won" the trade, though, I really like it for the Rangers, and I don't hate it for the Blues. But I do wonder what might've been had they struck while the iron was a tad hotter.

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The Price(s) Just Changed on Ryan O'Reilly, Timo Meier and Patrick Kane

Consider the Blues team "won't they" on this year's "will they-won't they" roller coaster. This means a team looking for a veteran center like Ryan O'Reilly could now see him as an option. Who wouldn't want a Selke and Conn Smythe Award winner for a Cup run?

This also means the price just increased for Sharks winger Timo Meier, who notched his 30th goal of the year on Tuesday.

Meier has been linked to the Devils, Hurricanes, Rangers (can probably cross them off the list!) and Golden Knights as early as Thursday morning, per ESPN's Kevin Weekes. GMs have been on it early this year with Bo Horvat and now Tarasenko already off the board ahead of the March 3 deadline, so bidders better get on that one.

Now we've arrived at Kane, and the Rangers' concern about his hip injury makes me wonder if any team will bite. On one hand, it's Kane, and Kane at 70 percent could still have some special moments.

On another hand, he's had few of those moments this season and you can tell he's struggling a bit. It seems like the Chicago Blackhawks might have to lower their price—reportedly a first-round pick, per The Athletic's Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus—if they really want to ship him out.