It has been a rough few years for Vladimir Tarasenko. Shoulder injuries have limited him to just 34 games over the last two seasons. Three surgeries later and he is looking for a change of scenery. And turns out the Flyers appear to be on his list.
There have been no secrets or surprises about Tarasenko wanting to be traded. The team has reportedly been looking to find a new home for the winger for quite some time now. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Tarasenko asked for the trade earlier in the off-season.
Within the article, Rutherford spoke about why Tarasenko requested the trade. He was reportedly upset with the way the first two shoulder surgeries were handled. A second one was needed after the first did not solve his issues. The first two surgeries were performed by Blues physicians while the third was done by a group in Colorado.
The ligament damage in his shoulders, which weren’t corrected during the original surgeries, was not discovered until he met with the physicians in Colorado. Tarasenko came back for the final 24 games of the regular season, grabbing four goals and 14 points overall. The injuries have taken a toll, obviously, but he has posted 24 points in the 34 games he appeared in the last two seasons.
Tarasenko is a long ways away from the 30-40 goal scorer has had been for most of his career. And the price tag is substantial as he holds a cap hit of 7.5M for the next two seasons. So it’ll be a risk to any team that is looking to bring him in. Tarasenko has reportedly given the Blues a list of at least 10 teams that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for.
In a more recent article from Rutherford, he had this to say about the potential teams on Tarasenko’s list.
"“Tarasenko has given the Blues a list of at least 10 clubs to which he can be traded, and we think we know a majority of those: the Rangers, Islanders, Golden Knights, Bruins and Flyers we reported previously, and you can add the Lightning, Capitals and Panthers to that list.“"
Similar to the proposed Seth Jones trade, it looks like a package including Morgan Frost and Philippe Myers could entice the Blues to make a deal. As mentioned, Myers’ name has been tossed around in other potential deals. Whether or not he is on the market is another conversation.
Frost is more of the unknown in this conversation. He has only appeared in 22 NHL games and is coming off of his own surgery as he dislocated his left shoulder in mid-January. So there are some questions on where his health is at as well. But he was progressing well and should be healthy come next season as he fights for another change on the NHL roster.
If all shoulder concerns are truly behind Tarasenko, the Flyers could use the goal-scoring threat that he still possesses. It’s a high-risk, high-reward type of situation. With Chuck Fletcher open to making big moves this off-season, Tarasenko could be one of those to get things rolling.