I’m fully willing to admit that Vladimir Tarasenko’s first-half-of-the-season performance has been tremendously disappointing, but the job that The Athletic’s Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn do on him while engaging in a set of power rankings…Ain’t pleasant:
23. Detroit Red Wings, 18-18-4
Dec. 20 rank: 23
Sean’s ranking: 22
Dom’s ranking: 23You would be forgiven if you forgot Vladimir Tarasenko was a member of the Detroit Red Wings — we certainly did with how quiet he’s been this season. Was there evidence he was probably washed last season? Definitely. And this year just feels like further proof of that. Maybe Todd McLellan can get more out of Tarasenko in the second half. But even if your expectations for him were already low, it’s hard not to be disappointed with just four goals and 14 points in 39 games.
Continued (paywall); I don’t believe in bagging on players to bag on them. Tarasenko’s got to step up and step up in short order, because the Wings need all the secondary scoring that they can get. But I’m not gonna go around saying somebody’s washed up because they’re struggling.
