Two-time Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko is headed to the Minnesota Wild, who are acquiring the 33-year-old winger from Detroit Monday in exchange for future considerations.
Tarasenko has one year remaining at a $4.75 million salary cap hit after signing a two-year deal with Detroit last summer.
The move comes after Tarasenko had a frustrating first season with the Red Wings. The former All-Star scored just 11 goals and had only 33 points, playing mostly in a third-line role as the year went on. There is a chance Tarasenko could rebound in new surroundings, though, and in 2023-24, he had 23 goals and 55 points.
If he can return to form, there are few more natural goal scorers than Tarasenko — but that “if” is carrying some weight.
Tarasenko’s last five seasons
2020-21
Blues
24
4
10
14
2021-22
Blues
75
34
48
82
2022-23
Blues/Rangers
69
18
32
50
2023-24
Senators/Panthers
76
23
32
55
2024-25
Red Wings
80
11
22
33
What the trade means for the Wild
We knew the Wild wanted to add a scoring winger to their arsenal, but we figured that would come via free agency. But players such as Brock Boeser, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mikael Granlund would have taken more term and probably dollars than the Wild wanted to invest. Adding Tarasenko and taking on his full $4.75 million takes them out of the scoring winger market when free agency opens Tuesday and allows them to solely focus on adding a faceoff-winning, penalty-killing center, perhaps Christian Dvorak, Sean Kuraly, Nico Sturm or Radek Faksa.
This trade essentially buys them a year to scour the landscape for a winger they do want to invest in via trade or free agency, or further develop from within their deep prospect pool. — Michael Russo, Wild beat reporter
Where does Tarasenko fit in Minnesota?
With Marcus Johansson re-signed at one year, $800,000, this should solidify the fact that he is moving from the second line to the fourth line and Tarasenko is taking his second-line spot, only on the right wing.
Tarasenko, like when he won the Stanley Cup with Florida on a line with Anton Lundell and Eeto Luostarinen, saw a dropoff in production last year playing on the third line in Detroit. He’ll be elevated in Minnesota’s lineup and should play with more skill at center and on his opposite wing, so the Wild are banking that he’ll have a revitalization when it comes to production.
He scored 34 goals and 82 points in 2021-22, and the Wild have seen the best of Tarasenko from his days in St. Louis. He’s nearly a point-a-game player against them in his career and lit them up in the 2016 and 2022 playoffs. — Russo
Why the Red Wings traded Tarasenko for nothing
The Red Wings clear Tarasenko’s entire $4.75 million cap hit without having to exercise a buyout, giving them more room to operate when free agency opens at noon ET on Tuesday. In addition to a top-four defenseman, Detroit also needs a top-six winger — which, a year ago, it hoped would be Tarasenko. But the fit never seemed quite right, with Tarasenko not making a consistent impact and eventually settling into a third-line role where he seemed miscast.
Moving him now gets the Red Wings out of that poor fit and allows them to more freely pursue an upgrade. Beyond whatever additions they make, Detroit also has a pair of young restricted free agent wingers in Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Söderblom, who may be able to closely approximate Tarasenko’s 2024-25 production at a fraction of the cost, plus rising young winger Carter Mazur, who profiles as a bottom-six winger with grit and some scoring touch. — Max Bultman, Red Wings beat reporter
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)