McKenzie: "No question" Tarasenko will want $6-7 million a year

Bob McKenzie was on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 on Monday morning.

On how much discomfort Vladimir Tarasenko is putting the St. Louis Blues in terms of re-signing him, given how well he’s playing come out of his entry level deal:

“Yeah, well – if they’re going to sign him he’s going to want a multi-year deal in the six, seven, eight years, whatever, at north of $6 million a year. There’s no question. Between 6 and 7.

“And you know what? I think the Blues are fine with that, as long as the consistency of production is there. As long as they’re convinced what they’re seeing isn’t a one-off. That this isn’t just a lucky season where his shooting percentage is high and he got some breaks.

“I think they’ve seen enough this season to believe Tarasenko is the real deal. That this guy is a legitimate, front-line scoring winger in the National Hockey League and that he’s always going to put up big numbers and big points. And you don’t mind paying for that. The same as any team with a young player coming out of entry level. We’ve seen it before, whether it’s John Tavares on the Island. Whether it was Taylor Hall in Edmonton.

“And you do have to be careful because I’m sure the Carolina Hurricanes regret the contract they gave Jeff Skinner coming out of entry level. And I’m sure that the Oil, if they had a do-over with Eberle and some of other guys, they might have used some bridge deals to their benefit.

“But I think in this case, you’re not left with a whole lot of choice if you’re the St. Louis Blues. So you look at the player and you say, ‘You know what? We’re happy to pay him if he’s the real deal.’

“And I think most people think Tarasenko is.”

Source: TSN 1260/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey