NHL Trade: The St. Louis Blues trade Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers

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.”