Oilers and Lightning emerge as frontrunners to sign two-time Stanley Cup champion scorer

The reason isn't cap fit - it's the agent he hired in June.

NHL Network's Aaron Grimson used an NHL Tonight segment to pitch Tarasenko to the Tampa Bay Lightning, calling the 14-year veteran a fit after his 23-goal season in Minnesota.

Days earlier, Elliotte Friedman floated a very different destination on his podcast, wondering aloud whether the Edmonton Oilers should take a look once things settled.

Treated separately, these read as two teams chasing the same winger. Connected, they trace back to one decision Tarasenko made before July even opened.

In June, Tarasenko left CAA and signed with Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. That single move quietly wired him into both front offices now being floated.

Milstein represents Tampa's Russian core - Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Mikhail Sergachev. He also just closed Shakir Mukhamadullin's extension with Oilers general manager Stan Bowman.

So the two loudest Tarasenko rumors aren't coincidence. They point straight at the two front offices his new agent already has open phone lines into.

Both fits are real on paper. Tampa, under Julien BriseBois and Jon Cooper, wants cost-controlled top-six scoring after already adding John Carlson.

Edmonton, now coached by Mike Babcock, cleared room by trading Darnell Nurse and needs a finisher for its middle six. The Athletic's Chris Johnston pegged Tarasenko at a one-year deal near $3.4 million, well under his old $4.75 million.

The lesson travels past both fanbases. In a thin market, a UFA's agent switch often maps his landing spots more accurately than any cap sheet - and Tarasenko's map now runs directly through Milstein.

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