Vladimir Tarasenko has signed a one-year deal worth $5 million with the Ottawa Senators.
Tarasenko reportedly wanted to return to the Rangers and appeared to be on the verge of signing a multi-year deal with Carolina and then fired his agents.
Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause. (Puck Pedia)
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Adam Rotter: Last summer Tyler Motte reportedly wanted to return to the Rangers and eventually signed a one-year deal with the Senators. Motte was then traded back to the Rangers at the deadline. Could the same thing happen with Tarasenko? The Senators are looking to finally make the playoffs, and they have new ownership coming in, but if things don’t break their way and the Rangers are in the market for help on the right side then I could certainly see a Motte situation happening. At 50% retention, the Rangers could probably finagle enough dollars to make it work.
It was a weird free agency for Tarasenko. There was reportedly a market for him and he either didn’t like those offers, didn’t want to sign with those teams or was hoping that somehow the Rangers could squeeze him in. That was going to be nearly impossible and now Tarasenko goes to an up and coming team and a chance to re-enter the free agent market again next summer when the cap is supposed to go up.