Rangers' Vladimir Tarasenko: The Playoff X-Factor

The New York Rangers' biggest concern coming into the 2022-'23 season was their depth at the Right Wing position. Head Coach, Gerard Gallant had been shuffling lines, trying to find the right combinations, but nothing had been working at a consistent rate. 

On February 9th, 2023, the Rangers' Right Wing position got much stronger as they traded for the St. Louis Blues star forward, Vladimir Tarasenko. Since the trade, Tarasenko has played in 31 games, tallying eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. 

Gerard Gallant has mixed up the lines from here and there, putting Tarasenko on the top unit with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but also pairing him with his Russian friend, Artemi Panarin, with Vincent Trocheck playing in between them. 

As it stands right now, Tarasenko is slotted in on that second line alongside Panarin and Trocheck, where he has tallied three goals and four assists in his last 10 games and I feel that this is going to be the line he sticks with moving forward. 

With that being said, I would love to see Tarasenko get more reps on the first power-play unit. Having Tarasenko on a power-play unit with Mika Zibanejad would be terrifying for the opposition. 

The Rangers' go-to look on the man advantage is setting up Zibanejad for a one-timer, but teams are starting to catch on. Having Tarasenko out there as well would ultimately open up more space for Zibanejad, because the opponent needs to respect his shot as well. 

He is a natural goal-scorer and he can put the puck in the net in many different ways. His shot happens to be his number one threat, but he also has a ton of skill along with some tricks up his sleeve. 

More importantly, he brings the Stanley Cup Champion experience to this Rangers locker room as he was a key cog in the machine that helped the St. Louis Blues win a Stanley Cup back in 2019. 

He tallied 11 goals and six assists in 26 games to help the Blues on their cup run. In last year's postseason, he scored six goals and added three assists, but St. Louis fell to Colorado in six games in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Now that he has entered a new chapter and has found a home in New York, Tarasenko has talked about how special it is to be here. In an interview with the NHL on TNT back on March 1st after scoring the overtime winner against the Flyers, he went on to say "There are a few special buildings in this league, I have to say Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena it's always special, the support is unreal."

Tarasenko has not only fit in well on the ice with his new teammates, but he has also embraced his new city, which can sometimes be the hardest part about being traded, adjusting not only your life but your family's lives in a new place. 

The Rangers fans have embraced Tarasenko and his family, just like he has embraced them. He is the missing puzzle piece they've been searching for and he has added so much buzz to the locker room. 

I am very excited to see what he does this postseason.