The Cost
This is the real issue here. Tarasenko would be a fine addition to the team. Honestly, we’d love to have a player of his caliber even if it was just a tryout. The issue here is what the St. Louis Blues want back in return for Tarasenko.
With the injury history and the contract, most teams will be looking to get Tarasenko on the cheap. Especially with his no-move clause, the winger holds a lot of power on where he goes next. Honestly, it’s very unlikely he’s going to waive it to go to a team like the Devils unless he values playing with young centers like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
Still, Tarasenko isn’t going to go cheap. All the talk is for the Blues to trade Tarasenko for another disgruntled star. There have been articles talking about Matthew Tkachuk (although the Blues would have to add something), Evgeny Kuznetsov, Adam Boqvist, Evgeni Dadonov (along with Logan Brown and trading up in the first round), and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Those are all players that can keep the Blues in their contention window. The Devils don’t have a player they are willing to part with that would keep the Blues within their contention window. So, they’d probably have to overpay in picks or prospects to overcome the other offers of real NHL players.
If the price isn’t very high, then sure, the Devils can take a chance on him. However, that just seems unlikely with all of the rumors flying around. It seems like the Blues are going to get decent value for an injury-riddled superstar.