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Tarasenko heading to SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL (Updated)

September 19, 2012, 2:27 PM ET [4 Comments]
Jeff Quirin
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Update 5:50pm CT --- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports via Twitter that Tarasenko is expected to return to the NHL when the lockout ends.
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Two years it took the St. Louis Blues to pry their top prospect out of the cold, vice like grip of the KHL. In only a few weeks they grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back as labor strife cut his tether to the NHL.

As reported by Andy Strickland of KFNS 590 AM, Vladimir Tarasenko had chosen to head home to Russia and to the team he left to make his brief jump to North Amerca, SKA St. Petersburg.

Tarasenko will join a bevy of former NHL players like Maxim Afinogenov, Evgeny Artyukhin, Denis Grebeshkov, Petr Prucha, and Viktor Tikhonov.

The 16th overall selection in the 2010 draft agreed to a three year entry level contract this summer and was officially introduced to the media and an jubilant fan base on September 6th. Throughout that week a glimpse in to the future was had by all those who attended informal skates at the Ice Zone practice facility. Though they likely knew that the one they call Tank wouldn't be seen fully operational for sometime, the thought was buried in the elation of the moment.

Now realities must be considered.

Will he continue to develop and will he come back?

Both answered are relatively easy to arrive at.

In terms of progressing as a player and a person there's no doubt Tarasenko will. SKA is one of the premier franchises in the KHL and has brought in a other liked out sniper, Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils, to be their captain. The potential for the two to pair up on the same line is utterly intoxicating... at least for those who get to watch them... but for Blues fans they can rest assured Tarasenko will learn from one of the most consistent goal scoring threats in the game.

The obvious downside is that time spent in the old world won't prepare him for the new world that is the "North American game". Had he elected to wait out the lockout in Peoria the AHL could have introduce him to the style of game he'll be playing for the next 10-15 years rather than what he spent the last four.

No offense to Jaden Schwartz, a potential Riverman linemate, but who can fault a Russian goal scorer opting to play with a fellow countryman who just happens to be one of the best players of a similar role/style?

With how difficult the process of extracting the young winger appeared to be, concerns over his return once there is a new CBA in place is an understandable concern. However, don't dismiss his brief time on this side of the pond as an indicatin he won't come back. It is, at least in one commentators mind, an indication of his honest intent to play in the NHL.

Had Tarasenko wanted to stay in the KHL, he simply would have chosen to do so. He was under no obligation to pass on SKA's offer this offseason and take a pay cut to join the Blues. With two agents and the media saturation of CBA negotiations, he knew this was coming. Yet, a contract was still signed and a trip was made to St. Louis.

Actions of free will speak countless words. He was free to choose and he picked the NHL. Assuming league owners and the players association can avoid Armageddon, Tarasenko will be back.

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