Vladimir Tarasenko could join Canadian team in free agency twist
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Vladimir Tarasenko to the Ottawa Senators keeps getting framed as a cap problem. The real obstacle is a roster that is already full.
Steve Staios told TSN 1200 this month that he feels good about his group, then admitted the Ottawa Senators still lack a pure sniper.
That admission is what put a Tarasenko reunion back in circulation.
Tarasenko remains unsigned nearly a month into free agency after 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games with the Minnesota Wild.
The Ottawa Senators traded captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in June and replaced him with William Eklund, a playmaker rather than a finisher.
That is why the sniper hole exists in the first place.
The subtraction nobody is pricing in
Spotrac lists Ottawa with 23 active contracts for 2026-27, which is the roster maximum. TSN put the club's remaining space at just over $5 million.
So the money is arguably there for a one-year deal near his last cap hit of $4.75 million. The roster spot is not.
Staios would have to move a contract out before Tarasenko could come in. That turns a simple signing into a two-step transaction, and two-step transactions take longer than fans expect.
Why the leftover market looks frozen
This is the part that applies well beyond Ottawa. The best remaining free agents are not unwanted, they are waiting on teams that need to clear a body first.
Cap space also accrues daily once the season begins, so a team squeezed in July can absorb more in November. Patience is not a snub, it is arithmetic.
Ottawa also has Drake Batherson and Artem Zub heading to unrestricted free agency next summer, which argues against any long-term commitment now.
The tell in Ottawa will not be a Tarasenko headline.
It will be a quiet depth-forward move that opens the door.
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