FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko was born and lifted in Russia, and has invested his NHL career playing in St. Louis, New York and Ottawa.
Now he’s household — in Florida.
Tarasenko’s wife and youngsters have created South Florida their total-time property for the past yr or so, which is a single of lots of causes why the veteran winger and Stanley Cup winner jumped at the probability to be part of the Panthers. Florida swung a trade with Ottawa on Wednesday for Tarasenko, sending two draft picks to the Senators.
“We ordinarily shell out the summers, but this 12 months we determined they’ll keep right here, the kids will perform hockey and get in school,” Tarasenko stated. “And get some solar.”
He came to get some wins, much too.
Tarasenko is leaving an Ottawa team that was effectively outdoors of the playoff race for a Florida crew that has the ideal record in the NHL. He went as a result of early morning skate with his new club on Thursday for the initially time and coach Paul Maurice had him in the lineup for Thursday’s sport in opposition to Philadelphia — on a line with Aleksander Barkov and 45-aim scorer Sam Reinhart.
Tarasenko has interactions already with a great deal of Panthers. Amid his ties: he’s near pals with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, performed in St. Louis with defenseman Niko Mikkola and has worked out in the summers with ahead Matthew Tkachuk.
“We sense the toughness of this team is that plan of the team, the togetherness,” Maurice claimed. “So, when you carry any person in, you are usually mindful of that. We used a good deal of time talking about how we consider he’ll match in the area.”
Barkov, the Panthers’ captain, mentioned it did not take any time at all for the team to welcome another huge-time scorer — 17 goals this time, 287 for his profession — into the area, understanding that he can make the group with the very best report in the NHL to this issue even far more proficient.
“Obviously, bringing him in is massive for us,” Barkov claimed. “He’s an additional player who can rating goals, who can make performs, who’s incredibly experienced, performs challenging. Which is thrilling.”
Tarasenko had a complete no-trade clause as portion of his $5 million, just one-12 months contract with Ottawa, allowing for him to opt for his most popular vacation spot. He only wanted Florida, he stated.
He recalled summertime routines wherever gamers like Bobrovsky and Mikkola would in essence recruit him.
“They ended up always joking to me to appear sign up for them,” Tarasenko stated. “It ultimately happened.”
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