NHL Rumors: Blues' Star Wants To Stay Put In St. Louis

There has been so much said about Vladimir Tarasenko and the St. Louis Blues ever since Ryan O'Reilly was named the next captain of the team. At first there were rumors he wanted to be traded, but as this season progressed and Tarasenko was playing well with a rejuvenated group, he may be staying put, at least until the end of the 2022-23 season.

Tarasenko is an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season, but the Blues had a good year and had to run into the Stanley Cup favourites in Round 2 of the playoffs. Ben Frederickson of STLToday.com reported that Tarasenko may have let the Blues know he wants to remain with the team.

There is no details on how long he wants to stay or if that even extends past 2022-23. But the team should have their most prolific goal-scorer for another run next season. Regardless of whether he wants to stay past 2022-23, the Blues will have a lot of contracts to deal with over the coming years and may not be able to offer the money Tarasenko is looking for.

Tarasenko was finally back to full health and played a full season in 2021-22 after dressing for just 34 regular season games over the past two seasons. He was also back to his goal-scoring ways, scoring 34, the most since 2016-17 for him, while setting career highs in assists (48) and points (82). Keep your eyes glued to the Blues around the trade deadline next season because they could very well be shopping him if they are a mediocre team.