Tarasenko Meets the Ottawa Media for the First Time

In his first act as an Ottawa Senator, newly signed right winger Vladimir Tarasenko jumped on a Zoom call for his first meeting with the media on Tuesday. It was a rough first date, probably due to internet glitches, resulting in Tarasenko getting impatient with being asked the same questions.

"I think I'm answering the same question for the third time right now," Tarasenko said.

Some of the subjects he discussed:

Tarasenko talked about his reasons for signing a one-year deal in Ottawa, giving the standard, "It's an exciting young team that wants to win... looking forward to the season" reply.

He didn't want to get into the reasons behind changing his agent this summer or whether he might have preferred a long-term deal.

The 31-year-old was asked about playing right-wing or left-wing this season and said it's up to the coach. But the left shot veteran did make a point of bringing up the fact that he's played his whole career at right wing. 

Tarasenko said a number of Senator players have reached out to him and he's already been added to the team's group chat.

Asked about playing with Tim Stutzle on the power play, he called him a great player and said he's looking forward to it.

Tarasenko was quizzed about what kind of guy he is in the room and said he's a player who likes to try and help teammates and be nice and friendly with everyone.

Later in the day, in a TSN 1200 radio interview, Tarasenko said he'd be arriving in Ottawa in a couple of weeks to find a house, along with schools and hockey teams for his sons. 

He also talked about his past shoulder problems and said it hasn't been an issue at all over the past two seasons.