The New Jersey Devils were one of the offseason winners this season, signing defenseman Dougie Hamilton and winger Tomas Tatar, trading for defensemen Ryan Graves and Christian Jaros, and then drafting Luke Hughes in the 1st round of the NHL Draft. It was a huge offseason for Tom Fitzgerald. Now, the Devils look like at least borderline contenders to make the playoffs in 2022.
However, there were rumors the Devils weren’t done. Vladimir Tarasenko was the most prevalent name tied to New Jersey, but there are apparently issues with his medicals that might be scaring them away. Tarasenko and Jack Eichel are the two biggest names still on the trade market, and the Devils and New York Rangers are the most logical destinations respectively.
It’s been weeks since we heard some legitimate rumors tied to Tarasenko. It just became extremely quiet in St. Louis. Lots of hockey people have taken the rest of August off after a ridiculous stretch that included two seasons almost back to back, two drafts within eight months of each other, a pair of free agency periods that were just as close, and a seemingly endless trade market. Add into the fact the league signed two new TV deals, a new CBA, three seasons worth of protocols dealing with a pandemic, and having to deal with the day-to-day stress of the pandemic in general. The NHL front offices deserve a little time off.
The New Jersey Devils could still acquire Vladimir Tarasenko.
To answer the question of the title simply, no the Tarasenko dream is not dead. The Devils could even start the season with the Russian sniper on the top line. September is right around the corner, and the Devils still have $12 million in cap space. They could take all of Tarasenko’s $7.5 million and still have plenty of money to make moves at the trade deadline if they feel necessary.
The wild card in all of this is the New York Islanders. We still don’t have answers as to what Lou Lamoriello paid Zach Parise, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Casey Cizikas, Ilya Sorokin, or Anthony Beauvillier. That is a lot of contracts still up in the air. It appears as though the Islanders have around the same $12 million in cap space before all these moves. The prevailing wisdom is the Islanders don’t want people to know what kind of cap space they have before making these moves, but with all those signings, how could it be any more than $0?
The Devils have to assess what kind of risk they are willing to take with Tarasenko. They made a major move on an injured player two offseasons ago when they traded for P.K. Subban. That hasn’t worked out at all. Subban is great for the morale of the team, but the Devils didn’t get what they wanted on the ice.
Tarasenko would come to the Devils with much smaller expectations than Subban. The Devils still needed to play Subban 22-23 minutes per game. If the Devils had to move Tarasenko onto the second or third line, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would probably work more like Phil Kessel on the Penguins, who famously made up the HBK line. The worst-case scenario is losing Tarasenko to injury.
This all depends on what the Blues are asking for in return. They have to know the return is only going to get worse. Unlike with Eichel, there are only two years left on Tarasenko’s deal. If he doesn’t get traded now, he likely goes for a lot less later. Even if he dominates the league like he once did, a team is only giving up so much for a player on a short-term deal with a history of shoulder injuries who missed the majority of two seasons. The Devils will wait, and maybe they will miss out on Tarasenko, but at the end of the day, this is the right move to be patient.