The 34-year-old Vladimir Tarasenko is coming off a two-year contract at a $4.75 million cap hit. He put up 23 goals and chipped in with 24 assists for 47 points in 75 games for the Minnesota Wild. That was after an 11-goal, 22-assist season in 80 games with the Detroit Red Wings. The winger still has some game left. Will he find a contract, or will he have to go the PTO route first?
Why hasn’t anyone signed Vladimir Tarasenko, and would he be a fit for the Edmonton Oilers
Daily Faceoff: Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton talking about free agent forward Vladimir Tarasenko, and why he hasn’t been signed, and if the Edmonton Oilers would be a fit.
Yaremchuk: “Why would you not want a guy who scored 16 even-strength goals last year? It’s not like he’s a power play merchant or he played with (Kirill) Kaprizov all year and was just chiselling points and goals because he played with a ton of skill. Like this guy was still a bit of a driver last season.”
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Hutton: “He is a guy in a, in a world where conditioning and being in shape is so important. At times, it can get away from him, but what he has proven over the last few years is he’s taken a lot more pride. He trains down in Florida. He’s got himself in unbelievable shape later in his career.
And I think for a team, if you could get him at a decent number on a one-year deal and you have the cap space, I think this is a super low-risk signing. And I know at times Russian players can be a little bit buyer beware, but on a one-year deal, like we just saw in Minnesota, he comes in, he proves himself that he can keep going, and he is going to try to extend his career as long as possible. That’s why I had this so high on my list of surprise someone hasn’t grabbed him yet.”
Yaremchuk: “People will be commenting that I’m a homer in the chat, but I’m really curious about him being a fit in Edmonton. We heard that there was some interest on July 1st between the Oilers and Tarasenko. Obviously, that fizzled out because of some other moves, but the Oilers are still sitting there with $4.7 million dollars in cap space right now.
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I’m curious if Tarasenko, and I know people will be like, ah, cold weather, Canadian city, all that stuff. He signed in Minnesota. I mean, Minnesota is pretty damn close to being a Canadian city, and the weather isn’t exactly nice there either. I’m curious about Edmonton as a fit for him.”
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