Vladimir Tarasenko

Player News

• Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko: Will be ready if season resumes

  04/09/2020 •

  Tarasenko (shoulder) will be ready to play if/when the NHL resumes its season, NHL.com's Dan Rosen reports. Head coach Craig Berube believes Tarasenko likely would have been ready to return shortly after the NHL officially halted play, so the 28-year-old winger shouldn't have any medical limitations if/when the league is able to resume its season. If that ends up happening, Tarasenko's return to the lineup will represent a huge boost for a Blues team that currently holds the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Russian sniper notched three goals and 10 points through the first 10 games of the season before undergoing shoulder surgery in late October.

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• Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko: Likely out through weekend

  03/11/2020 •

  Tarasenko (shoulder) is expected to remain sidelined through at least the weekend, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports. Barring a quick turnaround, Tarasenko has at least three more absences heading his way. There is no indication of when exactly the star winger is targeting a return to action, but his progression to full contact in practice last week suggests it shouldn't be too far away.

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• Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko: Will travel with team, won't play

  03/02/2020 •

  Head coach Craig Berube said Tarasenko (shoulder) will travel on the team's three-game road trip and will start taking contact soon, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports. "We're going to get some physicality on him next week and hopefully he feels good through that," Berube said. The team isn't going to rush Tarasenko back into the lineup, but it wants him to continue practicing. He's been working in a no-contact capacity, and with contact coming soon, Berube relayed that the team will sit down with Tarasenko and the medical staff when it returns from the road trip March 9 to decide on a timeline for the sniper to return. It would be beneficial for Tarasenko to get five or six regular-season games under his belt before the playoffs. The Blues have fared well enough without Tarasenko in the fold, but his return will be a major boost after five straight seasons of 30-plus goals and 33 tallies over 70 career playoff games.

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• Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko: Positive injury news

  02/19/2020 •

  General manager Doug Armstrong believes Tarasenko (shoulder) will return before the end of the regular season, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports. Armstrong even hinted that Tarasenko could beat the initial five-month timeline and return in early or mid-March, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com, although the former is certainly aggressive because this was Tarasenko's second shoulder surgery in three years. Another sign pointing toward Tarasenko's return before the playoffs is that Armstrong is only looking for "hockey trades" leading up to the Feb. 24 deadline, meaning he expects the sniper's $7.5 million cap hit to be on the books by the end of the season. Barring a setback, Tarasenko could be available for the fantasy playoff period, and he may be worth a stash for managers in the hunt.

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• Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko: Timeline to return remains hazy

  01/30/2020 •

  General manager Doug Armstrong said Tarasenko's (shoulder) timeline to return could be closer to six months, which would have him back in late April, Kevin Woodley of NHL.com reports. Tarasenko underwent his second shoulder surgery in three years back in October, and the initial timeline would have him returning in late March if everything went as planned. While the Russian sniper has been skating for over a week now, that reveals little about his shoulder's progress, and Armstrong is holding back optimism at this time. The Blues plan to re-evaluate him a couple weeks ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline to decide if they'll utilize their cap savings from placing Tarasenko on long-term IR to acquire a top-six forward. If the team opts to bring in such a player, we can effectively rule out Tarasenko for the rest of the regular season.

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