Fantasy spin: Tarasenko trade impact on Rangers

NHL.com has the fantasy hockey impact of the trade that sent valuable right wing Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers from the St. Louis Blues. For more coverage, visit NHL.com/Fantasy and subscribe for free to the “NHL Fantasy on Ice” podcast.

IMPACT OF TARASENKO TRADE ON RANGERS

The New York Rangers acquired right wing Vladimir Tarasenko on Thursday, significantly boosting his fantasy value for the rest of the season. The trade improves the outlook of New York’s top-six forward group and power play and specifically gives elite left wing Artemi Panarin a more potent linemate at even strength.

Tarasenko, who has had six seasons with at least 33 goals in the NHL, is a potential unrestricted free agent after the season and should be considered a top 75 overall fantasy player again. New York’s power play, which is ranked 17th in the NHL (21.4 percent), now has an even better first man-advantage unit with Tarasenko likely to join fellow high-scoring fantasy players in Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox.

[RELATED: Tarasenko traded to Rangers by Blues | Trade Tracker]

After having an NHL career-high 82 points (34 goals, 48 assists) in 75 games last season, Tarasenko has been limited to 38 of the Blues’ 51 games because of a hand injury sustained Dec. 31. Tarasenko has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) this season but none in four games since returning Jan. 24.

It’s worth noting the 31-year-old has the second-lowest shooting percentage (9.7) of his NHL career; he shot 6.2 percent in 2020-21 before bouncing back the following year (14.8 last season), indicating he could reach or exceed his career rate (12.7 percent) down the stretch.

Panarin, who’s tied for 11th in the NHL in points over the past two seasons combined (149 in 126 games), is tied with Zibanejad for the Rangers’ points lead (53 in 51 games) this season. With two elite lines, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in goalie Igor Shesterkin and one of the strongest third units in the NHL, the Rangers have more Stanley Cup futures appeal considering Tarasenko won the championship with the Blues in 2019 and New York reached the Eastern Conference Final last postseason.

Another potential beneficiary of the Tarasenko trade is Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, who will likely remain their No. 2 option at the position and could now bring exposure to Tarasenko, in addition to Panarin. Trocheck has fantasy bounce-back potential for the rest of the season considering he had an NHL career-high 75 points with the Florida Panthers in 2017-18. There’s also a chance Tarasenko could land on the top line with Zibanejad and Kreider, in which case he would give each of those players a higher ceiling.

Center Filip Chytil has had a breakout season with 19 goals, including 11 in 14 games (fourth in NHL) since Jan. 1, playing mostly the third line with wings Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko and should remain fantasy-relevant.

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