Rangers GM Chris Drury did not wait until trade deadline day to make a major move.
The Rangers acquired star winger Vladimir Tarasenko from the Blues on Thursday, giving New York its answer to the first-line right wing spot. In return, St. Louis received a package that included forward Sammy Blais and a 2023 first-round pick.
The pending UFA forward is a shoot-first kind of player. He has hit 30 goals in a season six times over his 11-year career. Tarasenko was named to the 2023 All-Star Game and has 10 goals and 29 points in 38 games played with the Blues.
MORE: When is the 2023 NHL trade deadline?
The Sporting News gives out grades to the Rangers and Blues for the Tarasenko deal.
Vladimir Tarasenko trade grades
- Rangers receive: F Vladimir Tarasenko, D Niko Mikkola
- Blues receive: F Sammy Blais, D Hunter Skinner, 2023 1st-round pick, 2024 4th-round pick
Rangers: A-
Ultimately, the Rangers got what they needed — a first-line right winger.
It has been a rotating cast that has played alongside No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad and his primary left wing, Chris Kreider. Head coach Gerard Gallant has tried Jimmy Vesey and Kappo Kakko in that spot for a majority of the season, but neither is a proven first-liner.
Tarasenko is a bonafide top winger, when healthy. He has hit at least 30 goals every season in which he has played at least 75 games. His shooting percentage this year is under 10%, which marks the second-lowest rate in his career.
While Zibanejad has played the most minutes with Kreider alongside his left, there is the potential for Gallant to put his big three up front together and play Zibanejad in the middle of Tarasenko and Artemi Panarin. The two Russians have played together on the international level, and it would be pairing a shooter with one of the league's best passers.
The big caveat is "when healthy." Tarasenko has been no stranger to injuries in the past. He only played a total of 34 games spanning over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, and already missed time this year with a broken hand.
In addition to Tarasenko, Mikkola gives the Rangers added depth on the back end. The 26-year-old Finn has skated in 50 games this season for St. Louis, recording three assists, 68 blocked shots and 96 hits. He will also be a UFA at the end of the season.
What it cost the Rangers may be a bit much for two players that could be strictly rentals. However, by trading for Tarasenko now, the Rangers get him for roughly 11 more games than they would have if they acquired him on deadline day.
The Rangers also still have a first-round pick for this year's draft and did not give up one of their top young players/prospects.
Additionally, the kind of player the Rangers were after was not easily available at the deadline. Scoring wings like Patrick Kane or Timo Meier are similar players to Tarasenko, however, Kane is not guaranteed to be available and Meier, a 26-year-old RFA, is going to cost a lot bigger of a package.
Blues: B
Finally, Tarasenko is out of St. Louis. It's been brewing for a couple of seasons now, but it felt like a Tarasenko move was inevitable at this deadline given his free agency status and where the Blues are positioned in the standings.
In return for Tarasenko, St. Louis gets a familiar face in former Blue, Sammy Blais. He heads back to the team after he was traded to the Rangers two years ago in the deal that sent Pavel Buchnevich to St. Louis.
The 26-year-old did not find a role with the Rangers. An injury kept him out of most of the 2021-22 season and this year, he has just five points in 40 games with New York. He primarily played on the fourth line. The Blues like his game enough to bring him back for another go.
Arguably the biggest piece of the trade coming St. Louis' way is the 2023 first-round pick. The Blues either will have the Rangers or Stars first-round selection, whichever pick is lower in the draft, but either way, it's likely to be a late selection.
That doesn't matter though. Already owning their own selection, the Blues will have a chance at drafting two players in the first round this summer in what is considered to be one of the deepest draft classes in some years.
Hunter Skinner, the prospect in the deal, is not a player of prominent value. He was a fourth-round selection of the Rangers in 2019, made the jump to the professional level after just one year with London in the OHL and has spent the last three seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL.
At 21 years old, there is still plenty of time for Skinner to develop. His strength is in his own zone, however, he has rounded out his 200-foot game. He's more of a nice depth piece to have for a Blues prospect system in the middle of the pack.
Like any deal done with a pending UFA, the Blues got something for a player that had the potential to walk for nothing. That's a win.
However, considering they are eating half of Tarasenko's remaining salary this year, they could have done a bit more. Tarasenko having a no-trade clause likely impacted the return for St. Louis, but I would have liked to have seen them get a better prospect, especially with the Rangers having other young defensemen in their system like Zac Jones or Matthew Robertson.
All in all, it's a solid haul for a player of Tarasenko's caliber and could clear the way for the Blues to re-sign captain Ryan O'Reilly, another pending UFA and potential trade deadline casualty.
