Jeremy Rutherford reported on Twitter yesterday that Vladimir Tarasenko has requested a trade. With the multiply 30 goal scorer wanting to be moved, should the Edmonton Oilers try to find any way to bring him in?
Goal Scoring
Tarasenko has scored 33 or more goals 5 times in his career. I think he would be a great fit to play with Connor McDavid. McDavid has never had a winger that is a scored 30 goals on a consistent basis, not including Leon Draisaitl. Putting Tarasenko with McDavid would give the Oilers an extra scoring threat if you were to put Leon and Connor on different lines. Tarasenko would probably not get much time on the power play though as the Oilers already have a left-handed shooter in Draisaitl unless they were to rearrange the way they run their powerplay.
Playoff Experience
Since Tarasenko joined the St. Louis Blues the Blues have made the playoffs every year except one. He has 78 career playoff games and has won a Stanley Cup, he played a large role in that run-scoring 11 goals. In all 78 games, he scored 35 goals. One thing we saw in the playoffs this year is that the Oilers needed more goals in the playoffs, so bringing in Tarasenko would help with this.
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Cost
One reason to not peruse Tarasenko is his $7.5 million cap hit. Earlier this week there was Duncan Keith to the Edmonton Oilers talk and the negative points around that was the cap hit for Keith. Tarasenko has a higher cap hit and the acquisition cost in a trade would be more than it would have been for Keith. It is a hard argument from a cost point to bring in Tarasenko unless St. Louis was taking a large contract back or retaining some salary.
Injuries
The last couple of years have be tough for Tarasenko on an injury front. He has had three surgeries on his shoulder. It seems to be a very similar scenario to Oscar Klefbom. If he is to injury that shoulder again his career may be done. Is this a gamble the Edmonton Oilers would want to make? Give away assets for a player that could reaggravate a serious reoccurring injury.
With this being one of the most important offseason in Edmonton Oilers’ recent history, Ken Holland needs to be smart and resourceful with the moves he makes. Would trading for a regular 30 goal scorer with an injury history be a smart move on his part? I do not think it would be, but I am not a NHL general manager, with more than 20 years of experience.