Rumor: Tarasenko

[Brian39]

I'm very much in the camp that doesn't think a winning streak and/or fan support is going to impact his decision one way or another.

With that said, I don't think we can or should read anything into his demeanor or comments. There is about a 99% chance that the press was told "you're not asking him questions about the trade request during post-game media availability." It is obvious what the reporters wanted to ask, but they all danced around it. He knows what the reporters were really asking, he know that his agent (almost certainly) told him not to discuss the trade request, and he absolutely doesn't want to be labeled as a distraction when the team is 5-0. Regardless of his feelings about being here at this moment, he is walking a fine line and he's doing it in his second language.

 

[Brian39]

My biggest worry was Tarasenko would want to stay but Armstrong would want him gone for causing drama. Considering his attitude since the start of the season I don’t see how that could be a problem at this point. To me it’s all on Vladi if he wants to stay at this point. Hoping responses from the crowd tonight could help that lol.

Tarasenko has a full NTC. If he wants to stay but Army tries to move him out of spite, Tarasenko is well within his contractual rights to so "Nope. You're stuck with me." Nothing about Army's career suggests that he would then waive Tarasenko and lose him for free just to prove a point.

Whatever drama was created by the trade request hasn't hurt the team. He is clearly acting like a pro at the rink, he is clearly not pissed at his teammates and his teammates clearly don't have an issue with him. Army is a grown man. For all the talk from a handful of posters about Army's ego, the reality is that he has repeatedly moved his bad contracts and he's sold at the deadline as a bubble team twice. His decision to name Petro as one of the first 3 on Team Canada is a stark contrast from Bowman naming his new shiny UFA mistake to Team USA. I have zero concern about Army letting his pride dictate this decision. The drama hasn't impacted the team, so I'm not worried about it impacting Army's decision making.

 

[A Real Barn Burner]

Tarasenko has a full NTC. If he wants to stay but Army tries to move him out of spite, Tarasenko is well within his contractual rights to so "Nope. You're stuck with me."

Understood however once waived is an NTC gone? Or can it be reasserted at a later point?

Like hypothetically Tank says Buffalo is a team he will waive for. Armstrong lines up a trade then Tank goes on second thought….no I want to stay?

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

This is a quote from Chief’s presser tonight:


“Things happen,” Berube said. “Things come out and players are unhappy at times and things like that. In the end, he’s here, he’s playing for the Blues, he wants to be here and we need him to perform at a high level and he is. The fans are going to cheer for him.”

 

[ezcreepin]

Well, I think the issue is a little more complicated because of the make up of this team. We are much stronger up front than we are on the back end currently. So, unless someone unexpectedly steps up defensively to become a first pairing left defenseman, DA is going to be looking for an opportunity to make a significant upgrade back there.
You have to give to get though which brings a potentially productive 91 into the trade picture once again especially if his play increases his value.
But to answer the recent question in this thread, against LV (3rd game of the year) 91 looked significantly better than he has in his last couple injury plagued seasons.

With the rumors of Calgary in talks for Eichel, it could actually make sense value-wise to trade Vladi for Hanafin assuming he still wants to leave. I can't say for sure if Calgary can afford to trade a guy like Hanafin since losing Giordano, but that is who I'd be asking for if this hypothetical scenario actually happened. There's is absolutely no way I don't ask for a bonafide top 4 defenseman/prospect if I'm Army though.

I don't like the wording of this

Even though he's been here since he was like 22, we have to realize that he is still Russian and English isn't his native language. We could read into it like he's mentally moved on, but I doubt he was wording it in that way.

 

[rumrokh]

I don't like the wording of this

Please don't be that kind of fan. There's just no use nitpicking tense use of a non-native speaker who just played a hockey game and had an emotional reaction to fans.

 

[Meatball]

I don't like the wording of this

Looks good to me.

 

[execwrite1]

This is a quote from Chief’s presser tonight:


“Things happen,” Berube said. “Things come out and players are unhappy at times and things like that. In the end, he’s here, he’s playing for the Blues, he wants to be here and we need him to perform at a high level and he is. The fans are going to cheer for him.”

Hopefully as one commentator said there are times when players want a trade but the news never leaks out and they drop it. Let's hope Vladi stays.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

JR responded to a tweet saying he still wants a trade, for what that’s worth

 

[542365]

JR responded to a tweet saying he still wants a trade, for what that’s worth

Well then this is going about as well as it could. He’s helping us win games and likely drawing in more interest from suitors, which should make the return better. It’s still in everyone’s best interest for him to play well. We should be looking at a legitimate return for Vladi now. He’s proven that he’s still capable of being a productive player and a difference maker offensively. At one point in the summer I was pretty happy with just losing his contract, but we should be able to do better than that now.

 

[Eldon Reid]

How bad does it look now that Seattle didn't take him?

 

[Mike Liut]

How bad does it look now that Seattle didn't take him?

Imagine the return Seattle could get if they wanted to flip him at the TDL.

 

[Stelmacki]

JR responded to a tweet saying he still wants a trade, for what that’s worth

JR doesn’t have the best track record.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The situation is like parents that are going to divorce, but are staying together until the kids graduate high school. Tarasenko is 100% gone when his contract is up at a minimum, there is no way he'll extend. Knowing that, it's in our best interest to move him to get value back, and to use his cap for a long-term piece sooner if we can find it. Since he's a professional and the issues are more with upper management with how the medical side went, there isn't going to be this giant rift with teammates, coaches, or fans, so everything will be good when the games are going. A breakup is still inevitable though, nothing will change that. Best-case, he can go out with a Cup this summer.

The only interesting part will be if Tarasenko keeps up his form and there is a team out there that is desperate either to climb in the standings after a poor start, a surprise team wanting to add, or a team that just needs offense, will Army get an offer similar to what Colorado received for Duchene. Will Army just hold till the summer or pull the trigger on a move if it's best for the long-term.

 

[PocketNines]

It feels like two sides with adversarial feelings have managed to steer toward a win for both sides. "Trade me anywhere" is not a win for Tarasenko, nor is getting low value a win for the Blues.

"Tarasenko will never play for the Blues again" is what lost. Great job, Jeremy Rutherford, you stepped outside your human interest story comfort zone.

 

[Brian39]

Understood however once waived is an NTC gone? Or can it be reasserted at a later point?

Like hypothetically Tank says Buffalo is a team he will waive for. Armstrong lines up a trade then Tank goes on second thought….no I want to stay?

A player can assert his NTC at any point in the process unless he submitted something in writing to the team stating otherwise. There would be zero reason for a player to do so when he has a full NTC rather than a modified NTC that requires him to submit a list of teams. The overwhelmingly most likely scenario here is that his agent simply told Army "he will go to these teams" or "he'd waive to go anywhere" without formally and irrevocably waiving the NTC.

Nothing in the process of requesting a trade, demanding a trade, saying "I'll waive to go anywhere," leaking approved destinations, etc is an actual waiver of the NTC. It is incredibly unlikely that Tarasenko has formally/officially waived his NTC at this point in the process. If he has (and then didn't rescind that waiver as a condition of showing up to camp and being a pro), then his agent is beyond incompetent. That wouldn't be a strategic choice gone wrong. That would be a catastrophic oversight.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

JR responded to a tweet saying he still wants a trade, for what that’s worth

Sorry, don't trust JR.

 

[Joshuar56]

JR responded to a tweet saying he still wants a trade, for what that’s worth

The same guy who said he wouldn't play another game as a blue?

 

[Brian39]

I've been as critical of anyone about JR over the last year or so. But criticism #1 about him is that he has simply acting as a mouthpiece to push the players' narrative/agenda. I don't trust the factual accuracy of JR's reporting on how we got here, who did what, or how the Blues feel. But I do trust that he is accurately repeating what his source in Tarasenko's camp has told him.

JR has badly blurred the line between reporting a story and helping an agent drive the story. But I haven't seen anything to suggest that JR is simply fabricating a story from thin air. I'm annoyed that JR has been presenting a one-sided narrative as a neutral report. It's shitty sports journalism, but it doesn't mean that he is improperly summarizing the one-sided narrative. He is reporting that his source is telling him that the player still wants to be traded. I think it is much more likely than not that he has in fact been told that.

 

[Brian39]

The same guy who said he wouldn't play another game as a blue?

Going to need a citation for that. JR has said a lot about the relationship being broken beyond repair, but I don't recall him ever saying that Tarasenko wouldn't play another game as a Blue.

He reported/speculated the opposite of that multiple times

Here he is back in August saying that a trade will happen, but speculating that he may start the season on the roster.

Here he is back in July saying that he will report to camp if he isn't traded.

He has done a ludicrous amount of heavy lifting for his source in Tarasenko's camp by pushing for a trade, criticizing the lack of trade, and asserting that the Blues are making a mistake by not trading him ASAP. But I don't believe he has ever said that Tarasenko wouldn't play another game as a Blue.

 

[Majorityof1]

I've been as critical of anyone about JR over the last year or so. But criticism #1 about him is that he has simply acting as a mouthpiece to push the players' narrative/agenda. I don't trust the factual accuracy of JR's reporting on how we got here, who did what, or how the Blues feel. But I do trust that he is accurately repeating what his source in Tarasenko's camp has told him.

JR has badly blurred the line between reporting a story and helping an agent drive the story. But I haven't seen anything to suggest that JR is simply fabricating a story from thin air. I'm annoyed that JR has been presenting a one-sided narrative as a neutral report. It's shitty sports journalism, but it doesn't mean that he is improperly summarizing the one-sided narrative. He is reporting that his source is telling him that the player still wants to be traded. I think it is much more likely than not that he has in fact been told that.

What was he supposed to do when the team froze him out though? Should he have sat on the story? I didn't read everything JR wrote about the situation, Maybe later stuff was done poorly. However, I have no idea what else a journalist should do when given a story from an anonymous source that is beyond reproach and nobody else will comment. If it did come from Vladdy's agent, then he can be certain its true. If Vladdy, Armstrong, the Blues, or the Blues medical staff refused to comment, he could not provide anymore balance without speculating himself. Knowing the information was factual, he had a duty to report it. Speculating on what the Blues side may be without any evidence is even more irresponsible.

I can see him pushing the narrative on twitter or becoming defensive when challeneged, and that could be seen to be unprofessional. But as I remember it, the initial story was fine. "I heard X from a source. I have verified the source, who wishes to remain anonymous ass someone who would be familiar with the situation. Here is some background info on the situation that's common knowledge. I reached out to A, B and C but they refused to comment."

 

[MilesNewton]

Armstrong has a bit of a God like complex this will be interesting to see how all this develops. Nothing wrong with challenging the GM

 

[joe galiba]

Going to need a citation for that. JR has said a lot about the relationship being broken beyond repair, but I don't recall him ever saying that Tarasenko wouldn't play another game as a Blue.

He reported/speculated the opposite of that multiple times

Here he is back in August saying that a trade will happen, but speculating that he may start the season on the roster.

Here he is back in July saying that he will report to camp if he isn't traded.

He has done a ludicrous amount of heavy lifting for his source in Tarasenko's camp by pushing for a trade, criticizing the lack of trade, and asserting that the Blues are making a mistake by not trading him ASAP. But I don't believe he has ever said that Tarasenko wouldn't play another game as a Blue.

I am positive I directly heard JR say on 101.1 that he saw no scenario where Vald would be on the team when the season started

 

[Brian39]

What was he supposed to do when the team froze him out though? Should he have sat on the story? I didn't read everything JR wrote about the situation, Maybe later stuff was done poorly. However, I have no idea what else a journalist should do when given a story from an anonymous source that is beyond reproach and nobody else will comment. If it did come from Vladdy's agent, then he can be certain its true. If Vladdy, Armstrong, the Blues, or the Blues medical staff refused to comment, he could not provide anymore balance without speculating himself. Knowing the information was factual, he had a duty to report it. Speculating on what the Blues side may be without any evidence is even more irresponsible.

I can see him pushing the narrative on twitter or becoming defensive when challeneged, and that could be seen to be unprofessional. But as I remember it, the initial story was fine. "I heard X from a source. I have verified the source, who wishes to remain anonymous ass someone who would be familiar with the situation. Here is some background info on the situation that's common knowledge. I reached out to A, B and C but they refused to comment."

JR pretty badly misrepresented the team's position over the summer. Army held a press conference (that JR attended) where he stated, "I'm not going to get into the nuances of the he-said, she-said things that have been reported. A lot of the the things that are coming out are so factually inaccurate, it's shocking, but I'm not going to get into that." JR tweeted that Army refused to comment on the trade request without including the second sentence, even though he sent about 20 tweets about the presser. He also didn't ask the follow up question, "what is inaccurate" or "then what was the reason for the trade request?" I'm sure the team froze him out for private interviews, but it is absurd that JR isn't asking basic follow up questions during press availability about the content he is reporting.

This article is literally nothing but his source venting frustrations about Army not trading Tarasenko combined with JR's speculation. There is zero information in there about what had been offered for Tarasenko and no indication that he getting info from sources on teams interested in Tarasenko. He literally cites one source "close to the situation" through the entire article and that source apparently knew which teams were interested, felt that Army's ask was too high, and also knew that Seattle was only interested if Tarasenko would waive his NTC once selected. It is painfully obvious that the source is coming from Tarasenko's camp and isn't a neutral source. Yet that source's opinion about Army's decision making is the bulk of the article and there is nothing but JR's speculation to support it. A reasonable journalist isn't printing that as a story without at least getting some info from the apparently-interested teams about what packages are being presented. There is simply no way to pass that piece of as anything but a favor to the source.

His mailbag about it was essentially nothing but his speculation.

I have zero issue with his initial reporting about what the source has told him. But the reporting since then has been atrocious. He has yet to include a single piece of information tied to a source from any NHL team. Every piece of info he's printed has been from "a source" with zero other information or "a source close to the situation" who then provides info that is clearly coming from Tarasenko's camp (reason for the trade request, how many teams he'd waive his NTC for, that Seattle wanted assurance that he's waive the NTC for anyone, etc). Not a single piece of information has come from a "league source" or a "source from an unnamed team." He's posted multiple stories about how the Blues' ask has been too high without presenting any information about what that ask is or showing that he's heard about the asking price from anyone other than his single unnamed source that is "close to the situation" and clearly coming from Tarasenko's camp. That is wildly speculative at best and intentionally misleading at worst.

Getting frozen out by the Blues isn't an excuse to not get any info from the multiple teams apparently trying to acquire Tarasenko. If Army was being as ridiculous as JR was claiming, it should have been ludicrously easy to get a couple quotes tied to "a source from a team who wished to remain anonymous."

 

[Majorityof1]

JR pretty badly misrepresented the team's position over the summer. Army held a press conference (that JR attended) where he stated, "I'm not going to get into the nuances of the he-said, she-said things that have been reported. A lot of the the things that are coming out are so factually inaccurate, it's shocking, but I'm not going to get into that." JR tweeted that Army refused to comment on the trade request without including the second sentence, even though he sent about 20 tweets about the presser. He also didn't ask the follow up question, "what is inaccurate" or "then what was the reason for the trade request?" I'm sure the team froze him out for private interviews, but it is absurd that JR isn't asking basic follow up questions during press availability about the content he is reporting.

This article is literally nothing but his source venting frustrations about Army not trading Tarasenko combined with JR's speculation. There is zero information in there about what had been offered for Tarasenko and no indication that he getting info from sources on teams interested in Tarasenko. He literally cites one source "close to the situation" through the entire article and that source apparently knew which teams were interested, felt that Army's ask was too high, and also knew that Seattle was only interested if Tarasenko would waive his NTC once selected. It is painfully obvious that the source is coming from Tarasenko's camp and isn't a neutral source. Yet that source's opinion about Army's decision making is the bulk of the article and there is nothing but JR's speculation to support it. A reasonable journalist isn't printing that as a story without at least getting some info from the apparently-interested teams about what packages are being presented. There is simply no way to pass that piece of as anything but a favor to the source.

His mailbag about it was essentially nothing but his speculation.

I have zero issue with his initial reporting about what the source has told him. But the reporting since then has been atrocious. He has yet to include a single piece of information tied to a source from any NHL team. Every piece of info he's printed has been from "a source" with zero other information or "a source close to the situation" who then provides info that is clearly coming from Tarasenko's camp (reason for the trade request, how many teams he'd waive his NTC for, that Seattle wanted assurance that he's waive the NTC for anyone, etc). Not a single piece of information has come from a "league source" or a "source from an unnamed team." He's posted multiple stories about how the Blues' ask has been too high without presenting any information about what that ask is or showing that he's heard about the asking price from anyone other than his single unnamed source that is "close to the situation" and clearly coming from Tarasenko's camp. That is wildly speculative at best and intentionally misleading at worst.

Getting frozen out by the Blues isn't an excuse to not get any info from the multiple teams apparently trying to acquire Tarasenko. If Army was being as ridiculous as JR was claiming, it should have been ludicrously easy to get a couple quotes tied to "a source from a team who wished to remain anonymous."

Fair enough. As I said, I didn't follow it much after the initial reporting. I don't ever think much of JR, so I don't follow him much. I do remember people coming after him immediately upon breaking the news and that, to me, wasn't fair. But JR continuing to push the narrative and ignore the other side as the story unfolded is definitely on brand.