Rumor: The battle for Tarasenko is heating up

[Moose and Squirrel]

I agree with your points to the degree that you're assuming that he has to be traded now. If the right deal isn't there now, you don't sell when the supply/demand equation isn't in your favor. You wait until he proves he is back to being a productive winger and wait for someone to have a need to fill a roster spot for an injured player or to see him as a missing piece at the TDL. Again, you're completely ignoring the fact that the team doesn't HAVE TO trade him now just because he demanded it. See Sakic, Joe and Duchene, Matt from several years ago.

I would agree here, and others have mentioned this as well. would rather keep him than give him away. his cap isn't a problem for the blues, so there's no urgency on that front.
and unless his relationship with the club is 'scorched earth' levels, and I get the impression that by him reaching out to Buch and welcoming him to the club it's not, then hold onto him

and to Crew's point, some of those names being floated now will def be used as leverage in talks.. just not sure if it's just smoke tho

 

[denis5]

You keep leaving off the word "now" when referring to the market for him. It may very well be true that the market for him is weak NOW, but that could change in the future and his current team has no reason to move him in a panic if it is currently a buyer's market. Maybe there is a better deal later, maybe not.

There is no cap crunch, nor any other motivation on the part of the team to move him in a bad deal. If he refuses to report to camp, he is suspended and the team gets cap relief. If the situation became acrimonious enough, they could agree to a mutual termination and make him a free agent. All of these outcomes are preferable to the team when compared to sending him somewhere with retention and getting little or nothing in return.

You are correct in a sense re: the word now, however you left something out. What's a weak market now could be a non-existent one later if he comes back and proves to be a shadow of what he used to be. Getting re-injured isn't the Blues' worst case scenario; it's that he comes back and becomes a $7.5M third line player or healthy scratch. He's going to report as he's going to want to get paid (no one is leaving $15M on the table). Bottom line, is that while some are ignoring better outcomes for the Blues, you are also ignoring worse ones.

Anyway, from an Islander point of view, the Blues keeping him is our best case scenario, at least without significant salary retention and a bad contract going the other way. No need for us to roll the dice, not where we are cap wise, and with how the team appears to be now complete (assuming Lou eventually files the contracts everyone assumes are done). We've seen what happens when a player with a significant contract falls of a cliff performance wise. Hope it works out for you, or you can draw another team in to assume the risk, but whatever "battle" there is for Tarasenko, please leave the Islanders on the sidelines for this one.

 

[bleedblue1223]

If the isles were one of the teams who feel Eichel will fully recover from his injury,imo his salary would be the biggest holdup ,not their depth at center.Buffalo saying they'll retain salary will bring teams back to the table. Taransenko's shoulder and Eichel's neck injury are both gambles for the team acquiring them.

Sure, they are both gambles, but the bigger risk with Tarasenko is how effective his shot will be and only comes with a 2 year commitment. Eichel wants a neck surgery that hasn't been done on an athlete in a contact sport and comes with a bigger and longer commitment. The risk is significantly different and that's not even factoring in acquisition cost, which for Tarasenko will likely be pieces that aren't really going to be a significant factor for a franchise, and Eichel can have franchise altering talent with 1st round picks, top prospects, and young NHL talent.

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

If there's really only several teams in on Tarasenko and there's cap concerns for a couple of them is it really a battle? Seems like a minor skirmish...

 

[CREW99AW]

You keep leaving off the word "now" when referring to the market for him. It may very well be true that the market for him is weak NOW, but that could change in the future and his current team has no reason to move him in a panic if it is currently a buyer's market. Maybe there is a better deal later, maybe not.

There is no cap crunch, nor any other motivation on the part of the team to move him in a bad deal. .

All points I agree with,which is why I posted Taransenko may open the season with the Blues.
The idea that the market for Taransenko is suddenly heating up, is not one I believe.

 

[CREW99AW]

Sure, they are both gambles, but the bigger risk with Tarasenko is how effective his shot will be and only comes with a 2 year commitment. Eichel wants a neck surgery that hasn't been done on an athlete in a contact sport and comes with a bigger and longer commitment. The risk is significantly different and that's not even factoring in acquisition cost, which for Tarasenko will likely be pieces that aren't really going to be a significant factor for a franchise, and Eichel can have franchise altering talent with 1st round picks, top prospects, and young NHL talent.

Two of the teams linked to Taransenko in rumors are the Bruins and NYR, both of whom need top 6 cemters much more then a scoring winger.

 

[benedictTavares]

I am more worried about acquiring an LD than Tank for sure.

 

[miscs75]

I am more worried about acquiring an LD than Tank for sure.

Let’s not make too much sense here.

 

[rumrokh]

If there's really only several teams in on Tarasenko and there's cap concerns for a couple of them is it really a battle? Seems like a minor skirmish...

If you look at where these rumors are coming from, the picture becomes clearer. Jeremy Rutherford's "source" for multiple reports lately has obviously been Tarasenko's agent. But you can tell he's not confident in those reports because he has said basically everything, from the idea that several teams are bidding and Beauvillier/Dobson would be fair to the idea that the Blues would have to pay basically anybody to take Tarasenko. Andy Strickland, on the other hand, who has historically been somewhat of a mouthpiece for the organization, is saying the reports about a lot of interest aren't actually true.

This kind of thing has always happened with journalists and rumors, but it's become even clearer in the last few years that a lot of these "sources" are player agents who are professionally full of shit. And then teams attempt to damage control these "leaks" that are half-true at best. I don't know if we're approaching a bursting rumor bubble because of that, but you can tell which fans have a tempered view and are actually reading between the lines vs. fans who are strident about increasingly dubious reports.

 

[Eggtimer]

What’s taking so long for a trade to happen ? Armstrong must be holding out for a set return and/or retention amount . Rightfully so but this is driving me crazy lol.

 

[VanJack]

A guy earning $7.5m against the cap and coming off major shoulder reconstruction......and the battle for Tarasenko is 'heating up'? The only 'heat' being generated here, will be on the GM who goes out on a huge limb to acquire him.

 

[Forge]

What’s taking so long for a trade to happen ? Armstrong must be holding out for a set return and/or retention amount . Rightfully so but this is driving me crazy lol.

I'm sure it's a matter of Army not getting the value that he wants. I'm really curious to see how it all plays out.

 

[Mike Liut]

What’s taking so long for a trade to happen ? Armstrong must be holding out for a set return and/or retention amount . Rightfully so but this is driving me crazy lol.

I think teams are meeting with Tarasenko and his doctor to see how the shoulder is before the deal goes down. I bet the deal happens in the next week.

 

[MattMartin]

A guy earning $7.5m against the cap and coming off major shoulder reconstruction......and the battle for Tarasenko is 'heating up'? The only 'heat' being generated here, will be on the GM who goes out on a huge limb to acquire him.

Would that "limb" be a shoulder?

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

What’s taking so long for a trade to happen ? Armstrong must be holding out for a set return and/or retention amount . Rightfully so but this is driving me crazy lol.

me too! unfortunately, I think we've got ourselves all lathered up over a trade that's looking less likely to happen before the beginning of the season

 

[St Louis515]

Tarasenko + Sanford + 2 mill retention for Beauvillier

I'd do that if a pre-deal with Beauvillier, heck I would even drive both of them to the airport.

 

[MattyW]

Want no part of Tarasenko from the Isles POV. Screw that.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Want no part of Tarasenko from the Isles POV. Screw that.

Disagree. If he comes over and we dump cap to get him and / or there's retention, why not. I don't want to give up anything valuable for him, but it would be disingenuous to say I want nothing to do with him. If that's your opinion, fine, but I'd revise it if I were you.

 

[Eggtimer]

Disagree. If he comes over and we dump cap to get him and / or there's retention, why not. I don't want to give up anything valuable for him, but it would be disingenuous to say I want nothing to do with him. If that's your opinion, fine, but I'd revise it if I were you.

How much cap room do you sneaky little buggers have dammit !!! I want to know if you guys can even offer on him so my Devils do t over pay lol.

 

[BelovedIsles]

It's only a given for more one-dimensional snipers who aren't puck carriers. Some guys can do it all, but there have always been terrific goal scorers who never find that center to form a magical duo simply because their play style isn't conducive to being set-up. Rick Nash is a classic example. Dude's style meant he needed the puck on his stick more to be most effective. I'd actually say that sneaky snipers a la Brett Hull are probably rarer.

It's not that Tarasenko is bad at it. But he's definitely not just a triggerman. He creates the majority of his chances with the puck on his stick, usually carrying the puck into the zone and then scoring rather than snapping home somebody else's set-up.

I'd still love to see what he could do with Barzal, and likewise, Barzal having Tank alleviate the burden of carrying a line.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Personally I think it is his agent feeding the machine to raise interest

 

[sfvega]

If the isles were one of the teams who feel Eichel will fully recover from his injury,imo his salary would be the biggest holdup ,not their depth at center.Buffalo saying they'll retain salary will bring teams back to the table. Taransenko's shoulder and Eichel's neck injury are both gambles for the team acquiring them.

Eichel is going to garner a very different market than Tarasenko. I really don't think the Rangers will be in on Tank, but they obviously would be very in on Eichel. LA would also be. The price for return would also be very different. The Isles need a center less, can handle the cap hit less, and would have less constitution to swallow the cost of acquisition for him. Army doesn't want to retain on Tank, but at this point it seems like a foregone conclusion as few teams have the space to take the whole hit. Especially once we get in-season.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

I think this “Tarasenko trade” is at a stalemate because:

NY Islanders - They need to dump players like Komarov, Hickey to make it work and probably need St Louis to retain too. Less than ideal for St Louis who have no interest in using them in their lineup.

NY Rangers - I’m not sure they are actually interested at all. They are obviously comfortable with their winger depth or else they probably wouldn’t of trade Buchenevich. Buchenevich is younger than Tank and was breaking out. It doesn’t make sense to trade him then bring in an older injury risk player with declining production.

NJ Devils - I’ve got no doubt their offering something garbage to St Louis. Probably something like a 3rd round pick. They know they have the cap space to do the deal but are not contenders and thus not motivated to aggressively acquire him. They are only interested on their terms and I can see St Louis Blues rather keep Tank than accept a garbage pick in return.

 

[JustAnotherHockeyFan]

Bruins should get him. Hall and Tarasenko could drive a line together no matter who you put between them. Would be a nice short term solution to replacing Krejci and they have room for a top 6 RW behind Pastrnak

 

[CREW99AW]

Eichel is going to garner a very different market than Tarasenko. I really don't think the Rangers will be in on Tank, but they obviously would be very in on Eichel. LA would also be. The price for return would also be very different. The Isles need a center less, can handle the cap hit less, and would have less constitution to swallow the cost of acquisition for him. Army doesn't want to retain on Tank, but at this point it seems like a foregone conclusion as few teams have the space to take the whole hit. Especially once we get in-season.

Isles are fine with their 22-27 yr old core of blueliners and Sorokin is only 25, but they need to get younger and more skilled among their forward group. Eichel at $10m would not be doable,but 24 yr old Eichel with salary retained is intriguing.

I would be surprised if the Sabres don't end up sending Eichel out west. Avoid facing him as much and don't have fans constantly reminded how the organization pissed away his time in Buffalo.