Tarasenko trade to Rangers ‘officially an end of an era’ for Blues

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — When the St. Louis Blues traded Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers on Thursday, it closed yet another chapter from their Stanley Cup championship book.

The 31-year-old forward played an integral role when the Blues won their first championship in 2019 by defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games. He had 17 points in 26 Stanley Cup Playoff games and finished second on St. Louis with 11 goals (Jaden Schwartz, 12).

The Blues currently have eight players from that Cup roster with Sammy Blais returning in the trade. Blais, who was traded to New York in 2021, was reacquired alongside defenseman prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft for Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola.

“Yeah, it’s interesting to see, but all in all, that [Cup win] was quite a few years ago,” said Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly, a pending unrestricted free agent who broke his foot Dec. 31. “The turnover in hockey’s quick, especially if you don’t win. Things change, it’s expected. It is kind of weird to see that number kind of dwindling. But personally, for me, I’m excited to get back with the team [and] I’m excited to make our final push here.”

[RELATED: Tarasenko traded to Rangers | Fantasy spin: Tarasenko to Rangers]

Along with Blais and O’Reilly, forwards Robert Thomas, Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev, defensemen Colton Parayko and Robert Bortuzzo and goalie Jordan Binnington remain from the first team to hoist the Stanley Cup for St. Louis.

“We were trying to wring another year out of this group,” general manager Doug Armstrong said. “I think when you do go back to our successful season of ’19, we were a veteran team. We won as a veteran team, and we’ve been able to hang onto that group for three more years. This year obviously was the end of that era.”

Video: Tarasenko traded to Rangers for Blais, draft picks

Tarasenko, who was selected in the first round (No. 16) by the Blues in the 2010 NHL Draft, ranks fifth in their history in goals (262) and points (553) and seventh in assists (291). Trading away the one-time cornerstone of the offense is another indication St. Louis is swiftly transitioning into a new era, with young forwards Thomas and Jordan Kyrou as the centerpieces. Thomas, 23, signed an eight-year contract July 13; Kyrou, 24, signed an eight-year contract Sept. 14.

“Now it’s officially an end of an era and we have good players that played on that team, that are going to be here for a number of years,” Armstrong said. “We have younger players that weren’t part of that team or like Robert Thomas, that was a smaller piece of that team that now have to be centerpieces moving forward.

“I think when we made the commitment to the two young players last summer, we understood how that was going to affect the cap and affect decisions moving forward. That’s where we are today.”

Video: Rangers acquire all-star winger Vladimir Tarasenko

St. Louis (23-25-3), which is nine points out of a playoff position, is focused on the future.

“I think this year, we’ve gotten that opportunity,” said Thomas, a rookie in 2018-19. “We haven’t done as well as we would have liked. We’ve got to put the pressure on ourselves here to turn it around. We’ve got some big shoes to fill.

“It feels like [2019 was] a while ago. It’s always good memories. We’re not happy we haven’t been able to get back there; just memories for now, but hopefully we can get another one.”