The NHL will drop the puck on the 2026-27 season Tuesday with a five-game card that will see each team playing 84 games this season. The NHL increased each team's workload by 2 games this year, and that was a byproduct of working with the NHL Players Association. The two sides were bitter enemies more than a couple of decades ago, but Gary Bettman has helped forge a strong partnership after going through quite a bit of bitterness in the past.
One of the byproducts of the current deal between league and its players is that there are number of veteran players that remain unsigned as the season is about to start. One of those players is Vladimir Tarasenko, but the expectation is that he will have an opportunity within a month — and no more than two — with a couple of teams that could use his services.
The 34-year-old Vladimir Tarasenko still has a dangerous wrist shot and can be a huge offensive factor because he knows how to go to the dead spots in the offensive zone and created scoring opportunities for himself. There are at least a few teams that could use Tarasenko right from the start, but other teams that get off to slow starts because they don't put the puck in the net enough would be wise to consider signing Tarasenko and inserting him on their No. 2 lines — or perhaps their top lines.
The price for Tarasenko could be $2-3 million per season, and that is a reasonable amount for a player who can fill the net at key moments. He made $4.75 million last year, but he won't cost that much going forward.
Taraskenko could be an option for the Oilers
Tarasenko is a 14-year NHL veteran who has scored 30 goals or more six times in his career. The last time he reached that figure was the 2021-22 season, so 30-plus goals may be out of reach. However, he scored 23 goals and 47 points last year for the Minnesota Wild and 8 of those goals came on the power play. He remains an offensive factor and he could be a solid fit for the Edmonton Oilers in the upcoming season.
This is a team that pictures itself as a major threat to win the Stanley Cup. Any team that has Connor McDavid is always going to be in the conversation because of his ability to take over the game and go on a hot streak that can last as long as six weeks at a time.
He has a game breaking partner in crime in Leon Draisaitl. It looks like controversial head coach Mike Babcock is planning to use McDavid and Draisaitl on what could be an unstoppable first line. The demanding Babcock obviously wants to see the Oilers get off to a sharp start and dictate the pace in the Pacific Division. Babcock wants to see the Oilers open the season with back-to-back one-sided victories over the lowly Vancouver Canucks (worst record in the NHL last season) and another victory over the Seattle Kraken for a 3-0-0 start.
That could create significant momentum for this team that appears to have a top-heavy first line. Vasily Podkolzin will join McDavid on the top line. However, adding a player like Tarasenko to the No. 2 line and to the Oilers second power play unit could make this team truly dangerous.
Article Continues BelowThe second unit includes Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center and Zach Hyman on the right side with relative unknown Isaac Howard on the left side. Howard played 29 games last year for the Oilers and that's the whole of his NHL experience. Tarasenko could make that second line far more dangerous than a smallish (5-10 and 180 pounds) 21-year-old who has yet to prove himself.
Rangers and Panthers are other possibilities
The New York Rangers are a strange team. They were one of the league's biggest disappointments last season and it got so bad that team president Chris Drury sent a letter to the team's season ticket holders that basically apologized for the team's poor play, said the team would retool and that multiple player moves would be made.
The biggest move the Rangers made in the offseason was bringing in high-scoring left wing Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights. Dorofeyev is coming off back-to-back seasons with 35 goals in 2024-25 and 37 goals last season. The Rangers gave up two No. 1 draft choices and a third-rounder to get him and it appears that Dorofeyev will be on a line with veteran center J.T. Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand
There should be plenty of room to add Tarasenko on the Rangers roster. He could fit in on the top line of the third line. The Rangers clearly need veteran scoring, and Tarasenko could take some of the pressure off of players like Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, Miller and Zibanejad.
The Florida Panthers are considered to be a strong bounce-back team after missing the playoffs last year because of multiple injuries. Many league insiders believe that the Panthers will have a chance to assert themselves as a championship contender if they return to full health this season. They will have stars like Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk along with newcomer Brady Tkachuk manning key spots in the lineup.
Adding a veteran scorer like Tarasenko could make them that much more dangerous in the upcoming season.