The St. Louis Blues won't have Vladimir Tarasenko available Saturday

The Blues won’t have Vladimir Tarasenko in the lineup Saturday when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Blues official website reports.

Tarasenko has had an interesting season for the Blues. He demanded a trade during the offseason, citing unhappiness with the medical staff. Tarasenko believes that staff has mishandled his shoulder injuries over the past few seasons. Then came the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken, and some wondered if the Blues would leave him unprotected to try and rid themselves of his contract. That contract pays him $7.5 million per season and runs through the following season. The Blues chose to keep him on the roster, not wanting to lose him and receiving nothing in return.

Tarasenko is 30 years old and hasn’t posted a 30-plus goal season since the 2018-19 campaign, but he is on pace to do so this season. He’s as big a reason as any as to why the Blues are 28-14-6 and in third place in the central division.

The Blues are -148 (+1.5) on the puck line, +168 on the money line, with an over/under of 6.5, over (-102), under (-120) against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. You can find the lines and props for this game and all others at the FanDuel Sportsbook.