Potential Free Agent-Landing Spots for Vladimir Tarasenko

The New York Rangers went all in at the NHL trade deadline to try and position themselves for a Stanley Cup run.

It did not work out as planned, and after blowing a 2-0 series lead to the New Jersey Devils they are left trying to pick up the pieces in an offseason that is beginning far earlier than anybody expected.

It seems unlikely that any of their trade deadline rentals (Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane) will be returning to Broadway next season due to their underwhelming performances, their age and the lack of salary cap space the team will have to work with this summer.

So let's take a look at where those rentals could end up this offseason.

Today we look at some potential landing spots for Tarasenko.

During the Rangers' clear-out day he said his main priority is finding a good spot for his family with a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup, so that should help narrow dome some potential candidates.

Tarasenko will turn 32 next season and is not going to be the franchise player he was during his peak in St. Louis, but he is just one year removed from a 34-goal season and reached the 50-point mark in only 69 games this season. He can still be a very effective top-six scorer and should have plenty of potential suitors in what looks to be an extremely weak class of unrestricted free agents.

Let's look at some of those options.

The Hurricanes check a lot of boxes for a team that could make a lot of sense for Tarasenko in free agency.

First, they are a definite Stanley Cup contender.

They have been one of the best teams in the league for five years now and given the makeup of their roster should continue to be for the foreseeable future. Most of their core players are in their prime years and signed to long-term deals. They are not going anywhere.

They will also have a ton of salary cap space to work with as they are projected to have more than $24 million in cap space with already 17 players under contract for next season. That not only gives them plenty of flexibility to be significant buyers this offseason, it could put them in the running for any top free agent they want. Tarasenko figures to be one of the top goal scorers available.

They will also have a need within their top-nine forwards as veterans Jordan Staal, Paul Stastny, Jesper Fast, Derek Stepan and Max Pacioretty are all projected to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Not all of them will be back, and there will be openings there.

As good as the Hurricanes have been in recent years, they have had a need for forwards with finishing ability to turn all of their puck possession dominance into actual goals, especially come playoff time. Pacioretty was supposed to help fill that void but his season was almost entirely wiped out because of injuries. He could be a buy-low candidate to return on a short-term deal, and even if he is Carolina could still use another potential finisher like Tarasenko.

Even though Tarasenko has shown signs of being in a decline, his 18 goals and 50 points would have still placed him fourth among Hurricanes forwards this season. Put him with a possession-driving, playmaking center like Sebastian Aho or Jesperi Kotkaniemi and he might be able to get back to a 30-goal level.

It would be a good match for both Tarasenko and the Hurricanes.

If there is one thing the Vegas Golden Knights love, it is big names that can help them in their quest for a championship and big names they can sell.

Vegas has also become a popular destination among players, not only for the location, but because the team is also consistently good.

Even though their salary cap situation is always a mess and one of the tightest situations in the league, the Golden Knights always seem to find a way to make it work and are always in a position to add players at the trade deadline and in free agency.

Vegas has about $3 million in salary cap space this offseason with 20 players under contract.

They are set to potentially lose Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Phil Kessel as unrestricted free agents, and Tarasenko could potentially be a perfect fit to not only slide into that spot on the right wing to replace Kessel, but also perhaps improve on him.

Kessel did not really have much left in the tank this season and even found himself as a healthy scratch come playoff time.

With Jack Eichel, William Karrlsson, Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy, the Golden Knights are set down the middle. They just need some more impact scorers on the wing.

They wouldn't need Tarasenko to come in and be a superstar or a core piece, but somebody that could simply be a complementary scorer. He is more than capable of still providing that.

The Avalanche saw their Stanley Cup defense come to a shocking end when the second-year Seattle Kraken eliminated them in seven games in the first round of this year's playoffs.

Injuries certainly played a role in the Avalanche's early exit, but they also lost quite a bit of depth from their Stanley Cup winning team.

They might lose even more this offseason.

Colorado will have six forwards eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, including J.T. Compher, Evan Rodrigues, Lars Eller, Andrew Cogliano, Darren Helm and Matt Nieto.

Beyond that, there also have to be some concerns regarding Gabriel Landeskog after he missed the entire 2022-23 season because of injury.

Valeri Nichushkin—who left the team during the playoffs—and his availability also has to be under question. Prior to Game 3 against the Kraken, an Avalanche team physician encountered a heavily intoxicated woman at a Seattle hotel while checking on Nichushkin. Initial reporting suggested the woman was found in Nichushkin's room, but this has been denied by his agent.

Regardless, Nichushkin was away from the team from that point because of what were described as "personal reasons."

The Avalanche will have around $13 million in salary cap space this offseason and will almost certainly have a lot of roster spots to fill. If Tarasenko is willing to take a little less money for a chance to play for a top-tier contender, he could be a great fit for the way the Avalanche play.

With Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and (hopefully) a healthy Landeskog, the Avalanche already have the top-tier players to lead the offense.

Their issue will be one of replenishing depth. Tarasenko would be a heck of a depth option and maybe give Colorado an additional spark to get back to a Stanley Cup level.

The Maple Leafs finally broke through the glass ceiling that was the first round, but no matter what happens for the rest of this postseason, they are still going to need to bring in a lot of forward help this summer.

They only have seven under contract for next season, and two of them are depth guys Sam Lafferty and Calle Jarnkrok.

The concerns here would be whether or not the Maple Leafs could figure out the salary cap situation (they only have $7 million in cap space with a lot of holes to fill) and if Tarasenko is the right fit for them. He is not really a two-way forward and is pretty one-dimensional at this point in his career, but he definitely still has the potential to score and make an impact.

Given the high-end talent that would be around him, as well as the up-tempo style Toronto tends to play, he might be able to put up some big numbers and impact the second power-play unit.

It could still be a long shot, though.

Part of what makes Tarasenko such a fascinating wild card in free agency is that it is difficult to gauge what his value will (or should) be.

Given his age, and the fact that he is coming off a good but not great year and also looked a little sluggish in the playoffs, he is probably not going to be in line for a long-term deal. A short-term two- or three-year deal seems likely, and perhaps even a one-year deal.

Even with all of that, and no matter the term, he could probably command at least $5 or 6 million on the open market, especially in such a thin group of potential impact players. Maybe a team like Toronto (or any other contender) that is close to winning a Stanley Cup could get him to come at a discounted price for an opportunity to chase another Cup. Toronto might need that to get him.

The Stars would be a fascinating landing spot because they seem to have a lot of success with players like Tarasenko.

Elite players in their 30s out of whom they are able to squeeze every ounce of productive hockey.

They did it with Alexander Radulov for a few years. They have managed to do it with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. They have done it with Joe Pavelski.

The Stars were very busy at the trade deadline in adding Evgenii Dadonov, Luke Glendening and Max Domi to their forward group, but all three of them are pending unrestricted free agents.

The Stars emerged this season as one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, and they seem poised to win a Stanley Cup at some point in the very near future. They have impact players at every level of the roster with all of their core players locked into long-term deals.

It is another team that could simply use some secondary scoring options around the edges to help complete the roster.

If Tarasenko wants a good team that could be a great fit for his style of play, this could be it. Dallas should again be one of the best teams in the Western Conference next season, and adding Tarasenko to a lineup that already has Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Pavelski, Seguin and Benn at forward, with a bona fide No. 1 defenseman in Miro Heiskanen and an elite goalie in Jake Oettinger, could make them the Stanley Cup favorite.