Vladimir Tarasenko was left unprotected by the St. Louis Blues in the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken but was unselected, leaving the forward with one less avenue that can show him the way out of his current team. It also seems that the interest in Tarasenko has waned of late, compared to the noise his name had generated a few weeks back. 

However, it has not been completely radio silent for Tarasenko trade rumors. Sara Civian of The Athletic fielded questions from her readers recently and mentioned Vladimir Tarasenko when she was asked about the Carolina Hurricanes’ plans to bolster the forward position.

It seems like they’re looking, though. They’ve been linked to Vladimir Tarasenko, and I could see a trade of some sort working out even if it isn’t Tarasenko. They’ll have some cap space left when they sign Svechnikov and I really think they need to do something.

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The Blues might be taking longer than they should in pulling the trigger on a Vladimir Tarasenko trade. It will not be a surprise if his value has tanked over the past few weeks. Tarasenko also has a no-trade clause which likely is making it harder for St. Louis to come up with a final decision.

Tarasenko used to be one of the surest things on offense in the league, but he has regressed the past two years largely because of shoulder problems. Right now, Tarasenko, who has a cap hit of $7.5 million over the next two seasons, comes across as a high-risk, high-reward asset, as the possibility of him returning back to his old form isn’t completely out of the picture just yet.