The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon took note of the fact that the Red Wings have traded Jake Walman and Robby Fabbri, and lost David Perron in free agency, thus becoming a team with fewer St. Louis Blues connections (though Ville Husso remains, and Vladimir Tarasenko joins the cause). Gordon was penning a survey of the free agency moves taking place over the past week, and he started her:
Former Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko makes his permanent home in South Florida these days. He bought a $5 million home on the ocean, then won a second Stanley Cup while toiling for the Florida Panthers.
But his hockey home shifts to Motown after he signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings. He joins an offensive cast that includes Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane, his longtime Blackhawks rival who re-upped in the Motor City on a one-year deal.
Why did the Red Wings sign Tarasenko?
“He’s a left-shot winger with a bigger body, a little different type of player than our wingers,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. “He’s a bigger body to fill out that top-six or top-nine group with a straight-ahead guy who is big and strong and will go to the net.”
To make room for Vladdy under the salary cap, the Detroit Red Wings had to offload some of his former teammates.
The Red Wings spent a second-round pick to send defenseman Jake Walman and his contract to the San Jose Sharks. They let winger David Perron depart for Ottawa as a free agent, then they sent winger Robby Fabbri and his $4 million cap hit to the Sharks.
Like the players always say, it’s a business. Maybe Tarasenko can rent a house from one of those departing players.
Continued…We’ll find out what happened with Perron when he speaks to the Senators media corps.
