On Saturday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed the surprising possibility that Red Wings forward Vladimir Tarasenko might be moved to another team in a trade.
This morning, Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas address the Tarasenko rumors a bit further on the 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman suggests that the Florida Panthers are a team that might want to reunite with Tarasenko (at the 27:40 mark of today’s podcast):
“It’s just, if you look at how they’ve gone, he’s sort of the one guy who’s been the odd fit. He has a no-trade clause, so ultimately he has control, but I think, was talking to some people who see the Red Wings a bit more than I do, and they weren’t surprised to hear that, in the sense that, you know as the team’s gotten better, and players have started to play better, it has still been, a bit of a square peg in a round hole for Tarsaenko.
I gotta think that, you know, Florida doesn’t have a lot of flexibility. They don’t have a lot to deal, and they don’t have a lot of cap room,” Friedman said. “But they know the player [Tarasenko]. That was actually the first thing I thought of when I got off the air. I bet, in particular, Tarasenko would probably love to go back there, too…
But I just don’t know where this is going to go out. I think there’s something going on there. I think there’s an understanding that this has been a harder fit than everybody expected, and I’ve just been told by couple of places that don’t be surprised if something happens, because there’s a lot of good vibes with the Red Wings, but there’s not in this particular case.
The Red Wings would probably have to eat part of Tarasenko’s salary to move him, and I would imagine that the return would be minimal, but if he’s not fitting in, he’s not fitting in.
