Columbus Blue Jackets trade Daniil Tarasov to Florida Panthers for draft pick

New York Times

17 hours ago

It was clear early last season that Columbus Blue Jackets coaches had lost confidence in goaltender Daniil Tarasov, allowing him to sit for long stretches of games and then calling up Jet Greaves from the minor leagues when starter Elvis Merzlikins needed a rest.
It made for an uncertain future in Columbus for Tarasov, and it came to an end on Thursday.
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The Blue Jackets traded Tarasov to the Florida Panthers for a fifth-round pick (No. 160 overall) in this weekend's NHL draft, the first of what could be several moves for second-year Columbus general manager Don Waddell over the next week or so.
'On behalf of the Blue Jackets, I'd like to thank Daniil for his contributions to our organization over the past four years,' Waddell said in a statement. 'He is an outstanding young man, and we wish he and his family well in the future.'
The Blue Jackets were playing to extend a qualifying offer to Tarasov, a restricted free agent, but it has been clear since the end of last season — when Greaves went on a hot streak in the final week of the season — that Greaves had supplanted Tarasov on the depth chart.
It could be part of a dramatic change at that position for the Blue Jackets.
Merzlikins still has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.4 million cap hit but he's been, statistically, one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL over the last three seasons. It's unclear if Waddell could trade him — it would take a creative package — or the club could consider a contract buyout.
Daniil Tarasov = brick wall 🧱
👉 https://t.co/EcoaWZ7Lv9@ADS__Inc | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/8UVwkl1sNA
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) May 4, 2023
The trade must have pleased Tarasov. Not only does he get a change of scenery and a chance to stay in the NHL, but he's in line to be Sergei Bobrovsky's backup with the Panthers, who have won two straight Stanley Cup championships. Bobrovsky and Tarasov are both from Novokuznetsk, Russia.
Tarasov has often spoken openly about his admiration for Bobrovsky, who spent seven seasons with the Blue Jackets — winning two Vezina trophies as the NHL's top goaltender, along with a franchise-record 213 games — before departing after the 2019 season.
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The trade also make sense on another level: Florida GM Bill Zito, who was an assistant GM in Columbus before taking the job with the Panthers in 2020, was part of the Blue Jackets management group that drafted Tarasov with a third-round pick (No. 86 overall) in 2017.
Tarasov, 26, was 19-34-6 with a .898 save percentage and 3.44 goals-against average in 65 games for the Blue Jackets, including 61 starts.
On Jan. 18, Tarasov made 26 saves in the Blue Jackets' 1-0 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden, becoming the first NHL goaltender to earn his first career shutout and suffer a loss in the same game.
(Photo of Daniil Tarasov: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)