Confirmed with Link: Tarasenko 50% & Mikkola to NYR for 1st RP, 4th RP, F S. Blais, and D H. Skinner

[Falco Lombardi]

This is an objectively good trade for the Blues for their current state but it’s sad as hell that Vladi is gone.

Anybody realize that Blais absolutely destroyed his right knee last season? Dude had a complete 100% tear of the ACL.

Yup. Came on a hit by Subban.

 

[LGB]

Anybody realize that Blais absolutely destroyed his right knee last season? Dude had a complete 100% tear of the ACL.

I know in football you can generally expect the 1st season back from an ACL injury the player won't be as good, but the next year they can bounce back. Maybe Blais is a decent acquisition if we re-sign him on a cheap deal.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

This is an objectively good trade for the Blues for their current state but it’s sad as hell that Vladi is gone.



Yup. Came on a hit by Subban.

Nah, it was a slewfoot. A dirty play by a dirty player

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

loved me some vova

 

[joe galiba]

and the money?

always get the money

1)Get the money
2)Where is the beer?
3)Safety 3rd

 

[Xerloris]

I enjoyed it too, but I’m also one of those “hits aren’t really a positive play because you generally only get them when the other team has the puck” people. Getting a player who hasn’t scored a goal this decade and whose main appeal is “hits people a bunch” makes me feel better about our attempts to get a higher draft pick, but not about said players viability when we try to be good again.

I mean you understand that a hit is when you make the player turn the puck over right? So a guy that hits a lot is helping the team by allowing us to regain control. Hits are a big deal and a good thing to have on a team, don't try to down play them just because you don't like Blais.

 

[Blueston]

From Rangers side at Athletic “It’s believed that the Blues jumped at this deal now because there simply weren’t any other offers with a first-round pick on the table. And Armstrong may not have anticipated any, so he took what Drury was offering, which was likely only a confirmed first if Mikkola was in the deal.”

 

[LGB]

I mean you understand that a hit is when you make the player turn the puck over right? So a guy that hits a lot is helping the team by allowing us to regain control. Hits are a big deal and a good thing to have on a team, don't try to down play them just because you don't like Blais.

Hits are useful when they result in a turnover. Blais' hits rarely did that from what I remember. Tended to chase them and get out of position allowing more space for the other team.

 

[Mike Liut]

I know in football you can generally expect the 1st season back from an ACL injury the player won't be as good, but the next year they can bounce back. Maybe Blais is a decent acquisition if we re-sign him on a cheap deal.

I wouldnt discount this from being true. I’d definitely take a cheap flyer on him next year.

From Rangers side at Athletic “It’s believed that the Blues jumped at this deal now because there simply weren’t any other offers with a first-round pick on the table. And Armstrong may not have anticipated any, so he took what Drury was offering, which was likely only a confirmed first if Mikkola was in the deal.”

I’ve thought same thing from once I saw the details.

 

[tfriede2]

From Rangers side at Athletic “It’s believed that the Blues jumped at this deal now because there simply weren’t any other offers with a first-round pick on the table. And Armstrong may not have anticipated any, so he took what Drury was offering, which was likely only a confirmed first if Mikkola was in the deal.”

I buy this. Also, in Army’s presser this afternoon, he mentioned Tucker specifically as piece next year - sounds like the Blues really liked what they saw of him this year (I did, too) - he makes Mikkola expendable

 

[MissouriMook]

FWIW - CapFriendly is now showing that Arizona has opted to take the 2026 2nd round pick in their deal to take Patrick Nemeth last year so it appears that the conditional 2024 4th in this deal will upgrade to the NYR 2024 3rd when they clinch a playoff spot. Obviously not official but it does speak to why there might have been some lingering confusion as to how the Rags could have potentially included this pick in the deal.

 

[i aint Dunn yet]

tell me skinner is good

 

[Lord Helix]

 

[542365]

tell me skinner is good

Seems like a very solid ECHL player.

 

[542365]

From Rangers side at Athletic “It’s believed that the Blues jumped at this deal now because there simply weren’t any other offers with a first-round pick on the table. And Armstrong may not have anticipated any, so he took what Drury was offering, which was likely only a confirmed first if Mikkola was in the deal.”

I can buy that. We got a 1st and a 3rd for Tarasenko and Mikkola. That’s pretty much what I expected from moving those two pieces. I don’t care that they’re packaged together.

 

[Brian39]

From Rangers side at Athletic “It’s believed that the Blues jumped at this deal now because there simply weren’t any other offers with a first-round pick on the table. And Armstrong may not have anticipated any, so he took what Drury was offering, which was likely only a confirmed first if Mikkola was in the deal.”

I agree with Army's decision to take a 1st today rather than trying to get more down the line.

We still have 3 UFA balls in the air with ROR, Barby, and Acciari. Pushing 4 rentals until the last second is a recipe to get left holding a couple. And while I think we've been drifting towards a seller's market, that can change depending on what potential players actually get moved. Larkin still might hit the market. Who knows what Kane's list will look like. Chychrun going by the deadline would remove a buyer. We have too many assets to not minimize the risk that the market goes against us.

I also like the signal to teams that they need to start making their best offers now because we aren't waiting weeks for you to get your ducks in a row. You want to try and low ball and settle for whichever rental is left when sellers start to panic? More power to you, but we're going to make sure you don't land our guy. We're happy to hit a double today instead of swinging for the fences on deadline day and risking a strikeout.

 

[Blueston]

I agree with Army's decision to take a 1st today rather than trying to get more down the line.

We still have 3 UFA balls in the air with ROR, Barby, and Acciari. Pushing 4 rentals until the last second is a recipe to get left holding a couple. And while I think we've been drifting towards a seller's market, that can change depending on what potential players actually get moved. Larkin still might hit the market. Who knows what Kane's list will look like. Chychrun going by the deadline would remove a buyer. We have too many assets to not minimize the risk that the market goes against us.

I also like the signal to teams that they need to start making their best offers now because we aren't waiting weeks for you to get your ducks in a row. You want to try and low ball and settle for whichever rental is left when sellers start to panic? More power to you, but we're going to make sure you don't land our guy. We're happy to hit a double today instead of swinging for the fences on deadline day and risking a strikeout.

We can potentially hold onto someone until deadline day to drive up return, but as you say we couldn’t hold into all of them as we would be flooding the market. This was smart move.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

A 1st for a rental Tarasenko is a solid return. A 3rd for Mikkola is probably a little better than I would expect. I don't factor Blais nor Skinner as significant value, but I really like Blais and know nothing about Skinner other than what's stated on this thread.

If there are only 2nd round offers and similar for ROR, and if he's willing to sign a 2C contract that doesn't have extended term, I can totally see him being re-signed. I'm not too sure what to expect from him. But if I were a contending team looking to add a difference-maker as a rental, I can't think of a better player to target than O'Reilly. Yeah, this year has been crap, but I would be stunned if he didn't put in a valuable post-season performance for whatever sweater he's wearing.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

lmao no one is going to want him

Edmonton would probably trade Foegle or Puljujarvi for him

 

[Eldon Reid]

Personally I am a little disappointed in the return for this trade. I think the value is missing 1 piece (I.E. another later pick or another B/C prospect) to make it better trade with us retaining a lot of salary and taking cap dump to make it work. But this is smart move by Army to start selling now and not try to flood the market on last day.

Tarasenko had his teams he would go to, so he somewhat controlled the cards, which also controlled his return. Do I think we should have gotten a bit more? Later pick or low end prospect? Yes, but by no means, do I think the Rangers fleeced us at all. It is a good start to the deadline for us.

 

[Mike Liut]

Personally I am a little disappointed in the return for this trade. I think the value is missing 1 piece (I.E. another later pick or another B/C prospect) to make it better trade with us retaining a lot of salary and taking cap dump to make it work. But this is smart move by Army to start selling now and not try to flood the market on last day.

Tarasenko had his teams he would go to, so he somewhat controlled the cards, which also controlled his return. Do I think we should have gotten a bit more? Later pick or low end prospect? Yes, but by no means, do I think the Rangers fleeced us at all. It is a good start to the deadline for us.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the NYR were the only bidders for him. I’m completely happy with a 1st and a 3rd for him and Mikkola. And hopefully Blais can return to form and be and added bonus.

 

[Brian39]

I'm sad to see him go. My other posts have been about the trade itself because this day was clearly coming. But I want to put my thoughts on Tarasenko into writing while it is fresh.

He was a great player here for 11 years and was the franchise's biggest star for a while. He played 644 regular season games as a Blue and another 90 playoff games. 262 regular season goals and 41 playoff goals. He was a legit contributor on two deep playoff runs that included the franchise's first Cup. He's the only Blue to grace the cover of the video game since Pronger. He's the only Blue to hit 40 goals in a season since Brad Boyes did it in 2008. No one else has done it since Hull left.

I think he's the only true superstar the franchise has had in the cap era.

And by all accounts, he is a great guy off the ice. I've talked to a number of people who have met him and no one has a bad thing to say about him. He's always been thoughtful and humble during interviews. At a young age he stepped up and became the father to a son who isn't biologically his and he's often sharing moments with his children. While I think he made a poor business decision in the summer of 2021, he's been a complete professional ever since. He showed up to work, performed as well as anyone could ask, and honored every penny of his contract.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a city support a player post-trade request the way St. Louis cheered for Tarasenko. I just swapped one of my games for the 4/6/23 Rangers game to make sure I'm there in my #91 jersey. I won't be wearing a good hat that night because I'm hoping he makes me toss it on the ice.

The franchise lost a good one today. It has been coming for a while and the return is much better than letting him walk away. But it sucks to see him go. I understand that an eventual jersey retirement isn't a certaintygiven the way things ended. But I hope that someday I'm in the building to watch 91 go into the rafters at the Enterprise Center. He deserves it.

Thanks for everything Vova.

 

[Novacain]

I mean you understand that a hit is when you make the player turn the puck over right? So a guy that hits a lot is helping the team by allowing us to regain control. Hits are a big deal and a good thing to have on a team, don't try to down play them just because you don't like Blais.

This isn’t true. A statistical hit is just when you hit someone who has the puck or had the puck within the last few seconds. In fact, most hits in the NHL tend to be on players who have already moved the puck to a teammate. If we only tracked hits that directly led to turnovers, it would be a significantly rarer stat.

And I liked Blais fine when he was here. And if I thought he was capable of being that player any more, I’d love to have him back. But I’m not going to jump for joy at us getting a forward who has 0 goals and 5 assists in 40 games this year.

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

He's like 27. Where are you getting "Young raw talent"?

Number of NHL games played. I think defenseman take longer to develop.

 

[Novacain]

Number of NHL games played. I think defenseman take longer to develop.

While that’s true, that usually means they hit there stride at 23-25 as opposed to 21-22 like forwards. At 27, chances are he is what he is.