The St. Louis Blues have announced that forward Vladimir Tarasenko is out with an injury. He requires additional surgery on his left shoulder and will be re-evaluated in five months.
Doug Armstrong said Vladimir Tarasenko will have shoulder surgery next week and won’t be re-evaluated again for five months. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Ewhvtkn4YR
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) August 26, 2020
Vladimir Tarasenko Out for the Blues
Tarasenko initially injured his shoulder on October 24, 2019, when he was battling with Sean Walker of the Los Angeles Kings. He missed one round robin game and 61 games of the first round. In the playoffs, he was deemed “unfit to play” for one round robin game and games 3 and 4 against the Vancouver Canucks. He left the Edmonton bubble on August 18 to seek further medical evaluation for his damaged shoulder.
In 10 games during the regular season, Tarasenko had three goals and seven assists for ten points. His possession numbers were 51.5% Corsi and 2.9% relative Corsi. In the four Stanley Cup Playoffs games he played in, Tarasenko scored 0 goals and had 0 assists, and a plus/minus of -1. Over his eight year career, Tarasenko has put up 214 goals and 214 assists for 428 points, all with the Blues. He was selected in the first round, 16th overall by the Blues in 2010.
Going Forward
With the Blues eliminated by the Canucks, Tarasenko has plenty of time to recover. He will likely miss the beginning of the 2020-2021 season, even if he is fully healthy after the five month recovery time. Even though the Blues offense is deep, the Russian sniper is certainly a large part of creating offensive chances. However, many Blues fans are worried he will be unable to continue playing full 82-game seasons.
