Skip to content
Your daily dose of hockey
News Rumors

Habs were interested in Vladimir Tarasenko

 Emma Wilson
Share : facebook icon twitter icon
Habs were interested in Vladimir Tarasenko
Credit: Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings acquired Vladimir Tarasenko. A year and a half ago, he was seen as a member of the hard-core Blues, but now he’s on his fifth team in 16 months.

Tarasenko, who has broken down in recent years, has just won the Stanley Cup and seems to have enjoyed his time in Florida, but it’s in Michigan that he will continue his career.

He’ll have more time to try and create chemistry with Patrick Kane. In New York, it happened quickly – and Kane was injured.

Between New York and Florida, there was a stint in Ottawa that didn’t exactly go down in history. He didn’t dominate, and the Sens finally traded him to the Panthers, just as he wanted.

But there’s one thing to remember about all this: it clearly ended worse in Ottawa than we thought.

Appearing on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast yesterday, Pierre McGuire said he was close to the former coaching staff of the Canadian capital club, and from what he heard, “something” happened with the Russian.

He doesn’t know what, but it prompted Steve Staios to get him out of town quickly. He probably would have been traded anyway as a rental player, but still.

Tarasenko, who signed a contract ($4.75 M per year over two years) that many people in Montreal would have taken, was nevertheless not a negative aspect in the Florida dressing room.

In McGuire’s eyes, the Habs were among the teams interested in his services this summer. One has to wonder if there’s a connection to be made with Ivan Demidov, who should be here in a year’s time.

McGuire isn’t sure what happened in Ottawa, but he says the Rangers, who got Tarasenko in 2023, were also interested in bringing him back to town for next season.

So there are a number of clubs who probably don’t see Tarasenko as a big problem. Do his potential problems in Ottawa have anything to do with the country he used to play in? Hard to say.

I don’t know: maybe he’s more comfortable in the States. – Pierre McGuire on Vladimir Tarasenko

We don’t really know what happened. But nobody forced him to sign for Ottawa in 2023, you know…

So in all this, if the Habs want to add a short-term veteran to their top-6, they’ll have to look elsewhere. The options are fewer, but they’re certainly not non-existent.


Overtime

– Ivan Demidov at the SKA development camp.

– A machine.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!
More Content