Tarasenko Gets Paid

The number two restricted free agent on the pool scoring list has now been signed... and has been paid!

The St. Louis Blues and Vladimir Tarasenko have come to terms on a new deal, which will last the CBA-allowed maximum amount of years, eight, and will pay him a cool $60 million in total.  This works out to be a $7.5 million cap hit per season, one of the biggest contracts signed in this off-season, to date.

This new deal will pay him through the 2023 season and is currently tied for 17th among all cap hits noted in the 2016 season upcoming.  He will be paid along the same lines as Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit, Jason Spezza in Dallas and Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay this coming season.

The 23-year old Russian broke out in the 2015 season, scoring 37 goals and 73 points in 77 games for the Blues, leading all St. Louis players in pool points on the year, in only his second full season in the NHL.

His 37 goals were tied for 5th in the NHL, 16 behind the Rocket Richard Trophy winner, fellow countryman Alex Ovechkin.  Among all skaters playing more than half the games in the year, Tarasenko ranked 12th in points per game, coming in at 0.948.

At 23 years old and going into his third full season, he shouldn't be working on any jinxes, but there is always the notion that teams are going to be keying in on him defensively, so there will be that hurdle to jump for him next season.

With that being said, Tarasenko showed off some crafty skating ability and some unbelievable talent in tight against defenders, so as much as there will be teams clamping down on him defensively, he will have some support on his line in Jaden Schwartz or Jori Lehtera, who can just as easily pot the puck in the back of opposition nets.

I don't think there will be any big gains this season, but I think he can get closer to a point-per-game than he was, possibly going over, if all goes well.  I will be projecting him as such in the Fall.

And with his own brand of commentary, my friend, the Big Deal, chimed in with his two cents.

SHERPA: Now that he's paid, how many points does he get next season?
BIG DEAL: 60.  Not enough for $7.5 million.  He won't even be the leader on the team.
SHERPA: Who's your pick to St. Louis next season?
BIG DEAL: I'm not sure.
SHERPA: You've been bold so far, why not again?
BIG DEAL: Paajarvi?
SHERPA: I already regret thinking about adding you to the blog.