NHL Trade: The St. Louis Blues trade Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers
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The St. Lous Blues have traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko (50 percent retained) and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers for Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick, and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.

Vince Z. Mercogliano: Draft pick conditions.

  • “STL will get the later of the #NYR‘s two 1st-round picks between theirs and Dallas (NYR owns rights to both). If DAL pick ends up in top 10, STL gets NYR’s 2024 first-rounder instead.”
  • “2024 4th-round pick becomes 3rd if NYR makes playoffs.”

Thoughts from the media

Dan Rosen: “The Rangers had been targeting Tarasenko because they feel he’s the best fit for their top-6 RW. They were worried about the asking prices for Patrick Kane and Timo Meier, plus the cap implications. Kane’s hip was also a concern. And Mikkola was a plus add in this trade too.”

Adam Gretz: “That is a comically cheap price for the Rangers, especially if the Blues are retaining half of Tarasenko’s contract.”

Andy Graziano: “You can be as salty as you need to be, but ….. Given the position the Rangers are in and what their needs seemed to be, Tarasenko is a major get. He can still snipe and should fit well with the established offensive talent they have already.”

Dennis Bernstein: “Been saying for weeks and reiterated again yesterday on @TheHammerHQ⁩ Edge Work pod, NYR RW depth wasn’t good enough to take team deep in post season. Tarasenko was a move they had to make.”

David Pagnotta: “Rangers have been in on Tarasenko going back beyond the off-season. NYR were one of the teams he was willing to waive NTC for, as I noted in yesterday’s column.”

Matt Porter: “Panarin-Zibanejad-Tarasenko are gonna cook.”

Kyle Cushman: “Going from Jimmy Vesey to Vladimir Tarasenko as your 1RW is a slight upgrade”

Cap Friendly: “Niko Mikkola is on the final year of a $1.9M contract. He has 3 pts in 50 games played and will be a UFA this summer.”