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St. Louis is open for business |
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The current buzz around the league is that St. Louis is open for business.
Naturally, and rightfully, the focus jumps right to Vladimir Tarasenko. How could it not? He’s an amazing goal scorer, he is signed long term at only 7.5M per year, and is 26 years old. The Penguins will have the same interest 30 other teams do. It isn’t often players of his magnitude are made available.
Here’s the problem. If the Blues are tearing it down they are going to want prime futures. Pittsburgh doesn’t quite fit the bill. Mid to late first round picks, Calen Addison, Filip Hallander, and whatever else is in the pipeline doesn’t carry the cache that other teams will be able to throw around for somebody like Tarasenko. However, Vladimir Tarasenko isn’t the only talented winger that is 26 years old in St. Louis who was drafted in the 2010 draft
Jaden Schwartz is a really good player in his own right and while it is probably still a stretch to come up with the proper assets to entice St. Louis, I believe it is a more reasonable target. He makes 5.325M two more years after the 2018-19 season. When you look at his sample (2016-19) next to Tarasenko it looks pretty good
If the Penguins were to go shopping for a St. Louis winger I think Jaden Schwartz would cost less in assets and salary while still being a great addition.
Thanks for reading!