It’s clear that Vladimir Tarasenko no longer wants to be in control of the St. Louis Blues. The Blues made him available in the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken, but the Russian was left unselected. There have been a few teams linked to his name, though, it appears that it will take a bit more waiting for anything to seriously materialize.
For Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, it might be beneficial for the Blues to make Tarasenko as bait to shore up their blue line. He floated the idea of a Tarasenko swap that would St. Louis Scott Mayfield of the New York Islanders.
Here’s an interesting hypothetical: The Islanders have been one of the teams tied to the Tarasenko trade rumors, so could a potential trade for the left winger bring Mayfield home in return?
Last season, the Blues were just 19th in the NHL with 2.98 goals allowed per game and 24th overall with a 47.8 SAT%. Puck possession seems like a problem that someone like Mayfield could help in addressing. Moreover, such a trade would give St. Louis more breathing room in their payroll. Tarasenko carries an AAV of $7.5 million until the end of the 2022-23 NHL season, while Mayfield has an AAV of just $1.45 million over the same stretch.
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