Let's Go Blues

I just read the translation of a Russian news article that states that Tarasenko extended his contract with Sibir. Unfortunately, neither terms nor the number of years were given. It was confirmed by a couple of Russian posters on HF Boards.

I wonder if the buyout clause for the second year of his KHL contract (NEXT season) was affected? That will be crucial. In addition, I wonder if the added years will preclude him from coming to The NHL before the full contract is concluded?

My guess is that nothing has changed regarding when he CAN come to North America, and the extension was just recommended by his father (and new coach), to ensure that he'd be playing for Sibir, and not any other KHL team, should he decide not to come to The NHL so early in his career.

But, nevertheless, it doesn't give me a good feeling. With a KHL contract already in place for a couple of years after he COULD decide to try out for The Blues, it will be a lot easier for him to decide to stay in Russia, IF he's on the fence. Also, it may well allow him to decide to only play for The Blues, and not for Peoria, should he not make the team out of camp.

I guess we have to hope he meant what he said when he stated: "I want to play in The NHL as soon as possible." It will also be easier for him to "change his mind" about that now.

I look forward to reading more details about this. I was counting on him playing for The Blues next season.

Here is the translated Text:

Vladimir Tarasenko extend the contract with Sibir
18-year-old striker Vladimir Tarasenko in the next few days will extend its agreement with the Novosibirsk club. Terms of the contract already negotiated in good faith with the leadership team, and now a forward left his signature, according to Sport-Express.
Last season, Tarasenko played in 42 games for the "Siberia", by dialing 24 (13 +11) points. Detailed statistics you can see here.
Recall that the young forward was selected in the 2010 NBA Draft by the St. Louis "in the first round of the 16-th number, although preddraftovom International rating agency skautingovogo Tarasenko had been on the 4 th.

I believe the correct translation goes like this:

"Tarasenko, drafted by the incompetent Blues, stated that while he was initially excited about the prospect of playing in the NHL, he has come to the realization that he was drafted by a bunch of cheap morons who have no interest in icing a competitive team, ever. He said that, while he respects the Blues fans for the suffering they've had to live with, he would "rather not play to half empty arenas" all the time while the management gets their crap in order. Said Tarasenko, when asked if he thought the Blues could ever succeed with the present management in place: "Nyet!"."

glen a richter wrote:I believe the correct translation goes like this:

"Tarasenko, drafted by the incompetent Blues, stated that while he was initially excited about the prospect of playing in the NHL, he has come to the realization that he was drafted by a bunch of cheap morons who have no interest in icing a competitive team, ever. He said that, while he respects the Blues fans for the suffering they've had to live with, he would "rather not play to half empty arenas" all the time while the management gets their crap in order. Said Tarasenko, when asked if he thought the Blues could ever succeed with the present management in place: "Nyet!"."

HOF

If this guy was the second coming, as advertised, why did he fall to the Blues? And, why did they take someone higher than him?
This.

Leedog wrote:If this guy was the second coming, as advertised, why did he fall to the Blues? And, why did they take someone higher than him?
This.

Yea I was thinking the same thing, especially about the Blues picking TEH SCHWARTZ first.

Obviously, every team has their "wants" list and from what I've been hearing, the two were neck and neck. The Blues probably picked Tarasenko later because of the Russian factor, which also answers your first question.

glen a richter wrote:I believe the correct translation goes like this:

"Tarasenko, drafted by the incompetent Blues, stated that while he was initially excited about the prospect of playing in the NHL, he has come to the realization that he was drafted by a bunch of cheap morons who have no interest in icing a competitive team, ever. He said that, while he respects the Blues fans for the suffering they've had to live with, he would "rather not play to half empty arenas" all the time while the management gets their crap in order. Said Tarasenko, when asked if he thought the Blues could ever succeed with the present management in place: "Nyet!"."

Couldn't agree more.

[quote="glen a richter"]I believe the correct translation goes like this:

"Tarasenko, drafted by the incompetent Blues, stated that while he was initially excited about the prospect of playing in the NHL, he has come to the realization that he was drafted by a bunch of cheap morons who have no interest in icing a competitive team, ever. He said that, while he respects the Blues fans for the suffering they've had to live with, he would "rather not play to half empty arenas" all the time while the management gets their crap in order. Said Tarasenko, when asked if he thought the Blues could ever succeed with the present management in place: "Nyet!"."[/quote]

Ha! Ha! Touché!

Actually, Jeremy Rutheford just posted this, to ease our troubled minds:

jprutherford @OpenIceHit6 Nothing official but word is Tarasenko may be siging 1-yr contract with KHL team, replacing his current 2-yr deal.

I'm feeling a little better now. I'll feel a lot better when he arrives in St. Louis, and the 2011-12 season starts with him on the ice in a Blues' uniform.

Dollar Dave was the trigger man on drafting Tarasenko. He knew Tarasenko would never sign in St. Louis and it would save him some coin. Talented draft picks and free agents cost too much money! Why construct a winning team when you can sign players like Dean Arsene and still raise season ticket prices?

Get Malkin, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, and even Gonchar....he won't resist coming here...the perfect plan.

BSNoseblunt wrote:Dollar Dave was the trigger man on drafting Tarasenko. He knew Tarasenko would never sign in St. Louis and it would save him some coin. Talented draft picks and free agents cost too much money! Why construct a winning team when you can sign players like Dean Arsene and still raise season ticket prices?

Dean Arsene is the shit. I'd gladly pay any amount to see him play.

JR via Twitter wrote: Nothing official but word is Tarasenko may be signing a 1-yr contract with KHL team, replacing current 2-yr deal

Now a lot of details get lost in translation, especially when it's coming from the Russian media. So I wouldn't take any translated websites verbatim. It seems far more likely that JR's tweet is the truth considering how much Tarasenko was non-commital about playing in the KHL just a few weeks ago. I'm sure he either re-negotiated his buyout clause or just took the 2nd year off the deal so he could come to NA next year.

So everyone just get their panties out a bunch and relax.

I could see how he could stay with Sibir for another year or two after being influenced by the coach, a.k.a. his dad.

BSNoseblunt wrote:Dollar Dave was the trigger man on drafting Tarasenko. He knew Tarasenko would never sign in St. Louis and it would save him some coin. Talented draft picks and free agents cost too much money! Why construct a winning team when you can sign players like Dean Arsene and still raise season ticket prices?

Yeah, I really hope this was typed with tongue firmly in cheek. This is the same guy who opened his pocket book to sign Paul Kariya at 6 mil a year, Jay McKee at 4 a year, same for Brewer and Jackman. Not his fault his hockey people missed on all of those deals. It's not like the guy didn't earn some goodwill by selling tickets at an insanely low rate his first few years in the owner's box and still found room to open his check book to at least attempt to bring this franchise back to responsibility. I mean, fer crying out loud, the Blues have one (mostly) quiet summer and it's the end of the fackin' world. I'm not sure how you can't help but look at Chicago right now and see how that's a bad business model. Yeah, their young talent is a bit better and more developed than ours, but they just had to unload a ton of great players within a few months of winning the Cup because they threw money at every free agent that was breathing for awhile. There's a plan in place, let's see it carried out first before we blame Dave for conspiring to draft people who will never show up.

And also, has it ever occurred that prices may be rising because as we move to the next 'phase' of the team building plan, they may try to start spending on free agents in the near future? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Alright, rant el fin.

Haha. You were serious.

However, why is that the blues have over $12 million in cap space? Some teams would kill to be able to spend $12 million over the cap! Dave Checketts is a business man, that's why he owns a number of sports teams if you haven't noticed - not just the Blues. He's all about making money now.

Sure, he threw out some cash to sign a number of essentially worthless players but those are called sunk costs. You keep on waiting for our "talented youth" to develop. I'll continue to question if anyone is ever going to commit to making this a championship-caliber team .

[quote="strocklen083"][quote="JR via Twitter"]
Nothing official but word is Tarasenko may be signing a 1-yr contract with KHL team, replacing current 2-yr deal[/quote]
Now a lot of details get lost in translation, especially when it's coming from the Russian media. So I wouldn't take any translated websites verbatim. It seems far more likely that JR's tweet is the truth considering how much Tarasenko was non-commital about playing in the KHL just a few weeks ago. I'm sure he either re-negotiated his buyout clause or just took the 2nd year off the deal so he could come to NA next year.

So everyone just get their panties out a bunch and relax.[/quote]

The rumour is exactly this. Although the RUSSIAN wording (not translation) used ready to sign an "extension", Russian hockey writers feel that that a news reporter got that wrong, and it is a "restructuring" of Tarasenko's 2-year contract down to one year (only this coming season), reflecting the net effect of subtracting out his buyout cost (2/3 of his contract 2011-12 salary). Then, he will be able to come to St. Louis immediately after his 2010-11 season with Sibir ends. I feel better having heard that from Jeremy Rutheford AND a few Russian writers who post on HF Boards. But, I'll feel better when I hear the official confirmation.

BSNoseblunt wrote:Haha. You were serious.

However, why is that the blues have over $12 million in cap space? Some teams would kill to be able to spend $12 million over the cap! Dave Checketts is a business man, that's why he owns a number of sports teams if you haven't noticed - not just the Blues. He's all about making money now.

Sure, he threw out some cash to sign a number of essentially worthless players but those are called sunk costs. You keep on waiting for our "talented youth" to develop. I'll continue to question if anyone is ever going to commit to making this a championship-caliber team .

$12 million cap space right now = re-signing guys like Backes, Oshie, and even EJ and Perron in 2 years. Talented and developing youth costs money too.

That is after Brewer, Jackman, etc are off the books.

Leedog wrote:That is after Brewer, Jackman, etc are off the books.

Ah that time can not come soon enough.