Realistic Trades and Landing Spots for Senators Winger Vladimir Tarasenko
The March 8 NHL trade deadline is quickly approaching and rumors are already flying around.
With that in mind, we're going to delve into the possibilities of where Vladimir Tarasenko may be playing before the season is finished.
Yes, we did this last season when he was in the final year of his contract with the St. Louis Blues and was dealt to the New York Rangers. Luckily for us, he signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators this past summer with a no-trade clause. With the Senators wildly underperforming, he's a logical trade candidate once again.
There is a bit of an issue, of course. Tarasenko's deal is worth $5 million, and that kind of cap hit is going to be a problem in trades. Virtually every team that could use the Russian scorer doesn't have the kind of cap space to make a deal, and the teams that could add him with ease probably aren't in the running for various reasons.
What we're asking from you, the reader, is to just go along with us in trying to find teams that could make best use of him.
We know money would have to move, we know the Sens would probably have to eat some or all of the money they can to make such a trade and we know NHL GMs seem to be allergic to making trades, period.
Now that we've got that settled, let's hit the list.
New York Rangers
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $6.53 million
Who doesn't love a reunion?
The Rangers are flying high as arguably the best team in the NHL. Coach Peter Laviolette has the Rangers winning games and defending like mad as well, but their offense is being driven by Artemi Panarin and anyone who's on the ice with him at the time.
The Rangers could stand to use another scoring threat, and given they've already gotten a good taste of what Tarasenko can do there (he had 21 points in 31 games last season with them), they could be a good fit.
A reunion wouldn't be an outrageous thing to ask for, especially when you see the Rangers have what works out to be two lines that score and two lines that grind up opponents. Bringing in a high-caliber scoring reinforcement who already knows the team is a bonus few teams could take advantage of.
Plus, Tarasenko is scoring 0.73 points per game this season, which would be sixth-best among forwards on the Rangers, just behind Chris Kreider. How about it, eh?
New York Islanders
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $9.95 million
If not the Rangers, what about their bitter rivals on the Island?
The New York Islanders are firmly locked into the playoff race at 17-10-10, and through the magic of getting to overtime, your team could be doing that too. We joke because we care, but the Isles are where they are and they're doing it, offensively speaking, on the backs of four players: Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, Noah Dobson and Bo Horvat.
Yes, the Islanders have had all kinds of injuries on defense, and that's been hard on them, but they're rolling with the 20th-best offense in the league--they could stand to have another threat or two out there.
Sure, maybe eventually they'll bring back free-agent Zach Parise, and he was good for them the last two years, but regardless of whether they do that, adding Tarasenko would give them the necessary scoring depth to help make their grip on a playoff spot a bit firmer.
Washington Capitals
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $5.18 million
You know which team desperately needs to find scoring? Why, yes, it's Alexander Ovechkin's Washington Capitals.
The Caps have the NHL's second-worst offense and average just barely more than two goals per game. Tarasenko's 0.73 points per game would be the best on the Capitals, who are led by Ovechkin and Dylan Strome at 0.62.
Considering how Washington is in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference and the Capitals' penchant for adding Russian scorers to play with or learn from Ovechkin (remember Ilya Kovalchuk's Capitals era?), it's an easy enough connection to make.
The Capitals could use goals from anyone and everyone, and adding a player such as Tarasenko to their forward group would not just deepen them, it would also give them a player who instantly would improve their attack.
Nashville Predators
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $37.62 million
If Tarasenko were going to return to the Western Conference, seeing him join the Nashville Predators would cause Blues fans a twinge of pain, but it would do a lot of good for the Preds.
Nashville is entrenched in the playoff race, but something they're lacking is real scoring depth. Filip Forsberg has been incredible, Ryan O'Reilly is proving to be more than just a help with the culture and Roman Josi is owning from the blue line.
With 22 points in 30 games, Tarasenko would have the fifth-most points on the Predators and would have the fourth-best scoring rate, tied with Gustav Nyquist at 0.73 points per game. The Predators are in the playoff race with very few guys leading the charge in scoring and just two forwards who are doing a lot of the work. It's the ideal kind of location for Tarasenko.
Nashville GM Barry Trotz has been all about trying to add to the skill level of his team throughout the organization, and from that point of view it would make sense to bring in Tarasenko.
Seattle Kraken
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $5.73 million
If it seems like we're hitting on a lot of teams that have struggled to score goals this season, you're right. This is what makes the Seattle Kraken a sensible landing spot for Tarasenko.
The Kraken's leading scorer this season is defenseman Vince Dunn. He's their lone player with 30 points or more (31), and Tarasenko's 22 points would be fourth-best on the team and his 0.73 points per game would be third-best.
The Kraken tend to do things from a more scientific point of view when it comes to putting the team together, and while Tarasenko's fancy stats in Ottawa aren't eye-popping, they are his best numbers in years.
Even though the advanced numbers would seemingly argue against adding him, just the addition of a traditional scorer capable of potting goals and assisting others makes more sense for a team that's averaging 2.66 goals per game (fifth-lowest in the NHL).
Carolina Hurricanes
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $8.31 million
The Carolina Hurricanes are having an off season compared to their past few years of outstanding play, but they're in the heart of a playoff battle that could see them land anywhere between the top three in the Metropolitan Division, in the wild card or just out of the playoffs completely.
The 'Canes know all about Tarasenko because they were in the running to sign him in the summer but lost out to Ottawa. Yes, we're still snickering about that a little bit, but if Carolina traded for him now, it would be able to bring him in for the most important part of the schedule and not have to pay him as much to do it.
If it weren't for Sebastian Aho or Andrei Svechnikov (who's been outstanding since he returned), the Hurricanes offense would be miserably poor. Yes, the Hurricanes have a few issues to contend with (goaltending), but adding another scorer would address another (albeit smaller) issue.
Philadelphia Flyers
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $6.67 million
Another team heartily in the playoff picture is the Philadelphia Flyers and, like many of the other teams on this list, they haven't been an offensively dynamic team this year.
The Flyers average fewer than three goals per game, Travis Konecny is their leading scorer and adding Tarasenko would give them a player who would have the second-best scoring rate on the team behind him.
The idea of adding Tarasenko to Philly makes for a fun concept. The Flyers don't have a player with his kind of legacy of skill and scoring, and putting him into a group that's playing as hard as the Flyers are makes sense.
But...is he the right kind of fit to play for coach John Tortorella, and would he fit in or adapt well to the style of hockey they're playing? Considering Tarasenko's history in St. Louis, you'd like to think he would be. Then again, this is why teams hire pro scouts—to answer these kinds of questions for themselves.
Vancouver Canucks
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Projected Deadline Cap Space: $3.69 million
Like the Rangers, the Vancouver Canucks are one of the league's top teams, but perhaps unlike the Rangers, they were not expected to be in this position. The kinds of abilities a player like Tarasenko would offer to Vancouver might not be in need, but this sort of deal could offer a twist.
The Canucks are able to get scoring seemingly all throughout the lineup, which is good, but what if you upgraded on some of those players with someone who's recently won a Stanley Cup and has a salary cap-hit that's within the ballpark of Conor Garland's $4.95 million?
Hey, that fills a couple of other needs.
Tarasenko jumping into the Canucks lineup, where fellow Russians Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko have had success there already, would give them the kind of player who could better take advantage of the skill around him than others in the lineup right now.
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