Does Tarasenko Make Sense For The Oilers?

You may not have expected the rebuilding Ottawa Senators to be ready to clinch a Playoff spot just yet. But they were expected to take some strides in the 2023/2024 season. 8th place in their division and 28th place league-wide, to put it lightly, are not strides. There are talks of them selling some key veteran players who can still play hockey at a pretty high level. One name for the Edmonton Oilers that some people have pondered as a Trade Deadline option is Vladimir Tarasenko.

The 32-year-old right winger has 35 points through 48 games in his 13th NHL season. He’s currently listed on Ottawa’s third line with Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig. I haven’t watched many Senators games this season, so I don’t know if Tarasenko was demoted for below-average play or if he’s just there to help with secondary scoring. Whatever it is, that line does look statistically good on an individual level. 23-year-old Pinto just came back from his 41-game suspension last month, has only played 9 games, and has 8 points. 21-year-old Greig is having a modest rookie/sophomore season with 20 points in 40 games.

News broke out that Penguins star Jake Guentzel will miss up to four weeks with an injury. There were rumors that Guentzel was high on Edmonton’s list of trade targets. But now, unless they wouldn’t mind waiting another week for him to be ready, the Oilers might have to look somewhere else within the next three weeks. The asking price for Guentzel has been said to mirror that of Claude Giroux a couple of seasons ago. That would be a first-round pick, a third-round pick, and a prospect. Though I wonder if his injury now lowers that asking price.

Going back to Tarasenko’s stats that I pointed out earlier, even though he’s not as shiny a toy as Guentzel, he would still be a nice addition to Edmonton’s second or third line. He’s not the 70+ point player that he used to be, I think he could still help a team that has struggled with secondary scoring the last few games. It would cost less to get him and, like Guentzel, would bring a Stanley Cup champion pedigree. The only issue is his cap hit. He’s only signed until the end of this season, but how can the Oilers fit $5M under their salary cap right now? More than one player would have to go back the other way. Or Jack Campbell is the only roster player part of the deal since his cap hit matches Tarasenko’s exactly. But Ottawa already has two goalies. Would either side be able to pull off a three-way trade?

Would you like Tarasenko with the Oilers? Would you not? Let me know.