The Minnesota Wild got great use out of Tarasenko as the 34-year-old scored 23 goals and registered 47 points after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for cash considerations last summer. But with the Wild focused on retooling their roster while being short on cap space, it feels like both sides are ready to move on.
The latest evidence came last weekend when The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Tarasenko “is headed to market” and that his agent, Dan Milstein “has permission to speak directly to teams” ahead of the start of free agency on Wednesday. LeBrun’s colleague Michael Russo responded by saying Milstein has not gained permission from the Wild to talk to other teams, which opens the possibility that a team has tampered with Tarasenko.
“Players become free agents at noon July 1,” Russo wrote in a separate post. “There’s no courting period in the NHL. Milstein is saying he has permission to talk to every team now. Not only can teams not give that kind of permission, [Wild general manager Bill Guerin] says he did not give Milstein any permission whatsoever. …If Milstein told LeBrun this, he’s tampering.”
The Wild would not get compensation if another team had tampered with Tarasenko but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested there could be massive penalties including a fine up to $5 million, possible suspensions and the loss of draft picks. Even more so, it confirms the Wild will be dealing with another hole in their top six forwards and perhaps another issue for them to deal with when free agency begins.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s days with Wild are numbered after tampering concerns
The divorce between Tarasenko and the Wild was already looking messy. But Saturday’s discussions on social media may have made it even more complicated.
At his age, Tarasenko could be looking to get his last big contract and after a successful year in Minnesota, it makes sense for him to hit the market. The Wild are also navigating a cap crunch as Kirill Kaprizov’s $17 million cap hit on the books begins this season, sitting with just $9.4 million in projected cap space according to Puckpedia.
Keeping Tarasenko wouldn’t have been a bad idea considering the Wild have already lost Marcus Johansson and could lose Mats Zuccarello in the coming days. But potential tampering throws another wrinkle into the equation. If Tarasenko was so willing to jump, his agent had already begun contacting teams, it shows how badly he wants to get out of Minnesota and puts the spotlight on the wing position.
The Wild had reportedly reached out to the Philadelphia Flyers for Owen Tippett. But the same lack of assets that is keeping them from trading for Dylan Larkin seems to make this a pipe dream for similar reasons. Other free agent options including Patrik Laine of the Montreal Canadiens could be in play, but his style of play makes him a poor fit and Russo reported there would be some fences to be mended after Laine chose to be traded to Montreal over Minnesota during the 2024-25 offseason.
While Bobby Brink is an internal candidate to replace Tarasenko, the Wild still need to find some playmakers. If they were hoping Tarasenko would come back, this weekend’s news was a rough development and could be something else that makes Minnesota’s offseason even more complicated with free agency approaching.
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