The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford is reporting that 2019 Stanley Cup champion forward Vladimir Tarasenko has requested a trade from the St. Louis Blues.
The Russian forward scored over 30 goals five times with the Blues, including a career-high 40 during the 2015-16 season, before three shoulder surgeries derailed his career.
BREAKING: Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko requests a trade, per sources: Why he wants out, possible destinations and more https://t.co/OLnEuCtgsI #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) July 8, 2021
According to Rutherford, Tarasenko requested a trade due to how the team handled his shoulder injuries, a diminishing of his role, and being passed over as captain of the team for Ryan O’Reilly.
Tarasenko, 29, has two years remaining in an eight-year, $60 million deal he originally signed with the Blues in 2015. While Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause, Rutherford reports that he has given the Blues a list of 10 teams he would approve a deal to. Tarasenko’s cap hit, per Cap Friendly, is $7.5 million. Next season he makes $9.5 million in base salary.
Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, the right wing has played in only 34 of a possible 127 games.
Tarasenko joins a list of star players that could be on the move this offseason including Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jack Eichel, Seth Jones, Nate Schmidt, and Johnny Gaudreau.
Tarasenko is friends with Capitals’ skaters Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov and played on the gold medal-winning Russia team that won the World Junior Championship in 2011.
Headline photo: @vt9191
