By Andrew Allsman| Posted: July 8, 2015| Contact |
When the Blues drafted Vladimir Tarasenko with the 16th
pick in the 2010 draft, the selection met the criteria of a high-risk,
high-reward decision. The draft selection paid off and the Blues now possess a
franchise player. The club is now hoping their newest high-risk, high-reward
investment produces similar fortunes.
The Blues announced an eight-year, $60 million contract with
the Russian winger Tuesday afternoon, one that will make Tarasenko the highest-paid
player on the club’s roster with a $7.5 million annual value.
“I was quite comfortable that it was going to be a lot of
money, regardless,” said Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. “But getting
term was something that our ownership group believed in.”
Armstrong relayed that message to Tarasenko early on in
negotiations, never discussing anything other than what he deemed fair for the rising
star.
“We believe you are a star player; we believe you are going
to be a star player; we are going to treat you like that,” Armstrong said he
told Tarasenko. “This wasn’t a high-low, volleying back and forth. There was no
question with our first offer that we knew he was a franchise player.”
With his new deal, Tarasenko will be locked up until he is
31. The term of the contract bought out multiple years of unrestricted free agency for Tarasenko, as
well as assured the forward would remain in St. Louis through his prime.
“My belief is, if you are willing to go five years for that
amount of money, why not go eight,” Armstrong said. “Getting ‘Vladdy’ done now
where he can come in, buy a place and just focus on hockey for the next eight
years was a step in the right direction.”
Tarasenko, who has had a busy week after getting married a few
days ago and then agreeing to the mega contract, said the term was as important
to him as it was to the Blues.
“First of all, I want to thank the Blues organization for
giving me the contract and the trust,” Tarasenko said via conference call
Wednesday morning. “It’s an opportunity for us to be better and win multiple
Stanley Cups. When you have a family, it is important to know your family is
going to stay in the same place. If your family loves this place, and if I love
this place, there are no other options.”
The already one-time All-Star is coming off a 73-point
season in which he netted 37 goals, 29 of them being scored at even strength. Tarasenko
also tallied six playoff goals, bringing his career postseason point total to
11 in 12 games.
“We saw just the tip of the iceberg last year of what ‘Vladdy’
can do in this league,” said Armstrong. “At such a young age to show those
skills, it really made this a priority for us to see if we could talk and work
with him to get him to sign a long-term extension.”
Through three seasons, Tarasenko is already a 100-point
player. The forward has 135 points (66 goals, 67 assists) in 179 games. In
conversations around the league, Tarasenko has been touted as the next, newest
player to post 50 goals in a season. He was the Blues’ main priority heading
into the offseason and there was no doubt that a deal would get done
eventually. The logistics made the process more drawn out.
“It started out with the dollar figure and then we had to
get some term for that amount of money,” said Armstrong. “It’s a 12-hour time
change so when (Tarasenko’s agent) Mike (Liut) and I would talk about this as 7
or 8 in the morning, ‘Vladdy’ would be going out for dinner or going home. So,
we could never really find the right rhythm to get this done and that’s why it
took a bit of time.”
“You’re always discussing the various possibilities,” Liut
added. “The longer you go, the shift in risk is to the club because they are
locked into the payments. It balances itself through that process. It isn’t
overly complicated when you get to the end. It’s the analysis leading up to it.”
Armstrong said Tom Stillman and the rest of the Blues’
ownership group wanted to commit to Tarasenko after Armstrong labeled him as a
franchise player.
“We told them we thought we had a really special player,”
said Armstrong. “They asked the good questions, the hard questions, and were
really committed to this player. Now, we have to do this together.”
There were multiple reports that Tarasenko was being wooed
by a KHL team throughout the process, possibly being offered a deal worth $11
million annually. However, Tarasenko wasn’t interested in entertaining an offer
that didn’t come from St. Louis.
“Our main goal was to sign a deal with the Blues,” said
Tarasenko. “We love this team, this city, this organization. Right now, it doesn’t
matter. We are staying with the Blues. It doesn’t really matter right now.”
With Tarasenko’s deal completed, the Blues remain around
$2.5 million under the salary cap ceiling, leaving them plenty of room to
maneuver for the remainder of the offseason, as well as in-season.
Blues fans will be celebrating the signing for a while, but
the champagne drinking is over for Tarasenko.
“It’s time to work right now,” he said. “There’s no time to
celebrate anymore.”