A no-move clause is an incredibly misleading term in hockey. While it does in fact mean the team cannot trade a player, its true purpose is so that players can choose where they are traded to.
One of these cases is coming up with Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian former 40-goal scorer is a pending unrestricted free agent, with a full no-move clause.
With the St. Louis Blues selling, it has been revealed which three teams he would be willing to relocate to.
Per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, these teams are the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils.
In addition to his belief that Tarasenko intends to hit the free agent market this summer, Pagnotta writes: "During the off-season, he was willing to waive his NTC to the New York Rangers, New York Islanders or New Jersey Devils – if there were other teams in play, I wasn't aware of it."
This makes good sense, as there is a vibrant Russian community in New York City, and there are several high-profile Russian players in the region. If he were to join the Islanders, he would have Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov. With the Rangers, Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin.
The only question is, can any of these three teams afford to bring him on?
My personal bet would be the Devils acquire him and try to extend him at a lower cap-hit. Their biggest team-need is a top-six forward, and it's easy to imagine the magic he could have with either of Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier.
We'll just have to wait and see.
Source: Blade of Steel
Where do you think Tarasenko will end up?
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