Vladimir Tarasenko is still sitting there in September, and that alone makes him worth a look for the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton already has a hole to patch after Matt Savoie went down with an injury during offseason training. The team has not said when he’ll be back, and Savoie had been projected to open the season in the top six. That leaves a spot on the wing when camp begins, and it’s the kind of opening a player like Tarasenko can step into immediately.
Tarasenko’s numbers last season still look useful: 75 games, 23 goals, 47 points, 24 assists, just under 15 minutes a night and five power-play goals. He’s 34 now, but the resume is still long and clean - 327 goals and 709 points in 906 NHL games. In other words, he can still play.
There’s also a familiar cautionary tale here in Jack Roslovic. Last summer, Roslovic stayed unsigned after putting up 22 goals and 39 points for Carolina.
Edmonton showed interest all offseason and eventually landed him on a one-year, $1.5 million deal in October. Tarasenko has now gone through July and August without a contract too, and with camps approaching and cap space mostly spoken for around the league, the list of open jobs is shrinking fast.
The Oilers happen to have one right now.
Savoie’s injury creates a clear vacancy on the wing, and Tarasenko’s game lines up neatly with it. He’s been a right winger his entire NHL career, and his 23 goals last season show there’s still finish in the stick. He could absorb Savoie’s minutes for now, then slide around once the roster is healthy again.
That flexibility matters because Leon Draisaitl is going to spend time away from Connor McDavid this season, even if Mike Babcock plans to use them together at times. When that separation happens, Edmonton will need wingers who can score and keep up.
Tarasenko has spent 14 NHL seasons doing exactly that from the wing. He can shoot, he can work the power play, and he has the kind of experience that lets him fit in without a long adjustment period.
He’s not just a pure finisher, either. Tarasenko had 24 assists last season and has 382 for his career, so there’s enough playmaking there to keep the puck moving. That gives Babcock some choices once Savoie comes back: keep Tarasenko with Draisaitl, move him to another line or use him on the second power-play unit.
And this is before the season even starts. Edmonton already has Mattias Janmark, Frederik Andersen and Alec Regula in camp with Savoie, and more injuries will come once the games begin. That’s the reality of an 82-game season, and it’s part of why the Oilers spent the summer trying to build in depth.
Tarasenko would just add another winger to the mix.
There’s also the Russian connection. Vasily Podkolzin has been Edmonton’s only Russian regular, and Tarasenko would give him another countryman in the room. Tarasenko has played for six organizations, appeared in 132 playoff games and won two Stanley Cups, so the experience level is obvious.
The question, as always, is cost.
Tarasenko is unsigned this deep into the summer, which narrows his leverage. Roslovic eventually had to settle for that $1.5 million deal last October, and Tarasenko could wind up in the same kind of spot if a short-term contract becomes his best route back into an NHL lineup.
For Edmonton, the fit is there. The need is there. And with a top-six winger already out and more lineup shuffling likely ahead, the Oilers have enough reasons to make the call.
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