Rangers acquire Tarasenko from Blues in blockbuster deal

The St. Louis Blues traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Sammy Blais, prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick, and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2024, the teams announced Thursday.

St. Louis is also retaining 50% of Tarasenko's salary, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. A pending unrestricted free agent, Tarasenko is playing out the last season of an eight-year pact with a $7.5-million cap hit.

The Rangers had two 2023 first-round selections after acquiring the Dallas Stars' pick in the deal for Nils Lundkvist. The Blues will receive whichever of the two picks comes later, while the 2024 fourth-round pick will become a third-rounder if the Rangers make the playoffs this season.

New York general manager Chris Drury said Tarasenko and Mikkola will play Friday against the Seattle Kraken, according to The Athletic's Arthur Staple.

Tarasenko's 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 38 games this season were the fifth most on the Blues. He was sidelined for 10 games after sustaining a hand injury on Dec. 31.

Tarasenko was a longtime target of the Rangers, and the team opted to make a push for him after feeling the costs for Timo Meier and Patrick Kane were too high, reports ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

New York sits third in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-14-8 record. The Rangers needed some help up front, ranking 15th in the league with 164 goals this season.

Tarasenko reportedly requested a trade out of St. Louis in July 2021, but nothing materialized. Tarasenko supposedly lost trust in the team over how it handled two of his three shoulder surgeries. Team physicians operated on the six-time 30-goal scorer's shoulder in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, doctors from outside the organization performed an additional procedure after the ligament damage from the original injury wasn't fixed during the first two surgeries.

The winger was limited to just 34 games across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, but he enjoyed a resurgence last season, leading St. Louis with 82 points in 75 games.

The 31-year-old was instrumental during the Blues' run to the Stanley Cup in 2019, chipping in with 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 26 playoff games, including two game-winners.

When asked about his uncertain outlook during last weekend’s All-Star festivities, the veteran simply responded, "Even Vladi doesn't know the future of Vladi," according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.

The Blues are in a state of flux. They own a 23-25-3 record and are currently nine points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Captain Ryan O'Reilly can become an unrestricted free agent in a few months and may also be on the move with the trade deadline just a few weeks away.

As for the other piece headed to the Rangers in the deal, Mikkola, 26, put up three assists in 50 games with St. Louis this season while averaging 16:39 minutes of ice time per night.

Blues fans are already familiar with Blais, who has five helpers in 40 contests this campaign. St. Louis dealt him to New York in July 2021 as part of the trade that sent Pavel Buchnevich to the Blues. Blais, 26, put up 35 points through 119 games during his first St. Louis stint. He was limited to just 14 games last season in the Big Apple after suffering a torn ACL.

The Rangers selected Skinner in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. The 6-foot-3 blue-liner has eight points in the ECHL this season, as well as two assists in eight games with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.