Vladimir Tarasenko Traded from Red Wings to Wild for Future Considerations

The Detroit Red Wings announced Monday that they traded veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko to the Minnesota Wild for future considerations.

Tarasenko signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Red Wings last summer, and he has one year left on his contract at a salary of $4.75 million.

The 33-year-old Tarasenko recorded 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points to go along with a minus-13 rating in 80 games for Detroit last season.

Last season marked the fewest goals and points Tarasenko had in a single campaign since his rookie season in 2012-13, aside from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons when injuries limited him to 10 and 24 games played, respectively.

Originally the No. 16 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft by the St. Louis Blues, Tarasenko was once considered one of the top offensive snipers in the league.

From 2014 to 2019, Tarasenko scored 33 or more goals in five straight seasons, including a career-high 40 in 2015-16. He also had three 70-point seasons during that stretch.

After two injury-riddled seasons, Tarasenko bounced back with 34 goals and a career-high 48 assists and 82 points for the Blues in 2021-22.

The Blues traded Tarasenko to the New York Rangers the following season, and he has since spent time with the Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers and Red Wings.

Tarasenko was part of the Panthers' Stanley Cup-winning team in 2024, recording five goals and four assists for nine points during their playoff run. That was the second Cup win over Tarasenko's career, as he also won it all with the Blues in 2019, racking up 11 goals and six assists in 26 playoff games.

For his career, Tarasenko is a four-time All-Star, and he has totaled 304 goals and 358 assists for 662 points in 831 regular-season games.

His production has dropped off steeply since leaving the Blues with Tarasenko averaging only 17 goals and 29 assists for 46 points over the past three seasons.

Still, Tarasenko has a strong shot and can bring some offensive punch to Minnesota's lineup, alongside fellow Russian Kirill Kaprizov, as well as Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson-Ek.

Tarasenko is no longer the superstar scorer he was earlier in his career, but he could help a Minnesota team that ranked only 25th in scoring last season en route to a fifth first-round playoff exit in the past six years.