What should the Blues do with Vladimir Tarasenkos space?
To be clear, Vladimir Tarasenko has not been traded, and it is not clear whether Doug Armstrong will be able to do so. Last night, during match five of the Stanley Cup Final, Jeremy Rutherford dropped this bomb:  In his post, Rutherford discusses the pitfalls and problems of trading Tarasenko. The main issues are his injury history and the associated drop in production. These could get in the way of Armstrongs ability to trade with Tarasenko, or at the very least hinder his ability to get good returns for his superstar asset. Tarasenko has only played 34 games in the past two seasons thanks to three shoulder surgeries (of questionable quality according to Rutherfords sources). His production in those 34 games has dropped  7 goals and 24 points in 34 games is hard for a GM to see when comparing Tarasenkos pre-shoulder problem seasons. By contrast, Tarasenko had 33 goals and 35 assists in 2018-2019, and was a key catalyst for the Blues to win their first franchise. Stanley Cup. The pre-injury numbers work in Tarasenkos favor  the trick is that Armstrong has to find a GM who believes Tarasenko will hit those numbers again. If Armstrong can do that  and if that GM is on Tarasenkos trading list  then the Blues may have a little more money to play with off-season. Much of how much money the Blues will have freed up depends on what their return is for Tarasenko. Presumably, each deal will include a player on the roster who Armstrong believes can help make up for Tarasenkos missed goal production. More than likely, no one Armstrong acts for will match Tarasenkos past output; GMs dont want to trade someone with guaranteed (or as close as you can get) production for someone with a huge question mark about injuries hanging over their heads. If Tarasenko is traded as a solo deal and not as part of a package, returns will not be high. Blues fans may want to temper their expectations. The player receiving the Blues in exchange for a Tarasenko deal will not belong to Tarasenkos previous production, but the Blues most likely will not receive a player who costs as much as Tarasenko (unless Tarasenko is part of a package deal for one, of course). player  in that case they could very well be a points producer). The Blues have some savings to work with. If they pack Tarasenko with another roster, theyll have a few million extra to work with. On top of that, the expansion draft on July 21 will cause the Blues to fall one contract short. Lets be generous and assume that every deal and the resulting new Blues will lead to a few extra million in available cap space. The Blues first option with this savings is to offer a comfortable raise to one or more of their UFAs: Tyler Bozak, Jaden Schwartz and Mike Hoffman. An argument can be made for the value of each of these three players, and Armstrong may want to invest in those he already knows. Their second option is to offer Vince Dunn a small raise as they work towards re-signing the RFA defender. However, this may be something Armstrong is hesitant to do, given that Dunn is arousing interest from GMs, and signing an RFA to a contract that includes a raise could make other GMs hesitant to act for Dunn. Dunn could be thrown into a deal with Tarasenko to sweeten the pot, free up more cap space and make this a moot point. Armstrong, especially if he trades both Tarasenko and Dunn, could use his savings both to offer a raise to a current UFA and to sign a member of this off-season free-agent pool. Gabriel Landeskog would be a valuable addition (although that would likely happen if Armstrong deals Dunn and Tarasenko AND decides not to sign any of the teams UFAs), but he could be a replacement for not only Tarasenko, but also Schwartz and/ or Hoffman. Other less expensive UFAs could be a priority, such as Brandon Saad or recent Stanley Cup winner Blake Coleman, but Armstrong would need to make multiple purchases to replace Tarasenko and, if they run, Hoffman and/or Schwartz. Of course, Dougie Hamilton could still be available if the Hurricanes dont re-sign him. His 32 assists last year were impressive, but he needs to increase his goal-scoring acumen to replace a yearling Schwartz or Tarasenko. Its disappointing to even have this discussion about Vladimir Tarasenko, just as its disappointing that his relationship with the Blues has gotten this far. Doug Armstrong will face upset fans who have now lost a roster from the 2019 Cup team in consecutive off-seasons, but most importantly he will have to walk a tough tightrope to maximize his return for a player that many general managers believe to be damaged goods. Considering potential pot sweeteners for that deal and stir in some expansion concept, and next year the Blues team will be significantly different than this season.