Jeremy Rutherford reports that top Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko made the 19-hour trip to visit St. Louis this weekend.
As Andy Strickland mentioned earlier today, Tarasenko would need to choose between returning to the KHL or getting acquainted in the AHL in the event of a lockout.
Tarasenko’s agent Mike Liut discussed Tarasenko’s tough call from both angles.
“You’re playing in the NHL, the best league in the world, and that’s what he wants to do. From that standpoint, he’s doing what any other player his age is doing, so it’s not that big of a deal,” Liut said. “On the other hand, he’s giving up a lot of money to come over here and play. That’s just the simple truth of it, but we don’t need to make a lot of that either. It is what it is.”
Liut indicates that Tarasenko isn’t making a big deal about his presence in the U.S., either.
“You tell him they’re going to have a press conference Thursday to introduce him to the media and it’s almost like, ‘OK, why?,’” Liut said. “Certainly they have media in Russia, but he doesn’t quite grasp it. He’s a kid coming over to play hockey.”
If he lives up to the hype, Tarasenko will need to get used to all of the attention.
