With the Blues' season now over, Vladimir Tarasenko may be headed for surgery.
The Blues were eliminated from the NHL playoffs Sunday in Nashville, a point in the year when some players join their respective counties at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship already in progress.
Russian coach Oleg Znarok was asked Monday following a 6-3 win over Germany in the preliminary round whether there were plans for Tarasenko to be added to the roster, and replied: "We called to his agent. He said that Tarasenko played with injury and needs a surgery."
It's believed that Znarok was referring to Tarasenko's Russian-based agent, Alexei Dementiev, who told Championat.com, "We'll have specific info after medical check."
Tarasenko also has a North American-based agent, Mike Liut, the former Blues goaltender, whom the Post-Dispatch reached Monday.
Liut said that he anticipated that Tarasenko's exit medical exam would take place Monday or Tuesday, after which more would be known.
Tarasenko was on the ice for the finish of the Blues' second-round series in Nashville on Sunday. He didn't miss any games in the playoffs, or the regular season for that matter, playing in all 93.
Any possible injury is unknown at this point, although Tarasenko did look to be some pain in Game 1 against Nashville when the Predators' Austin Watson jabbed him in the chest. The hit appeared innocent, sending Tarasenko to the ice and summoning Blues trainer Ray Barile to the scene, but perhaps it re-aggravated a pre-existing injury. He stayed in the game.
In regard to Tarasenko not playing in the World Championship, Liut didn't seem as concerned about an injury as he was the number of games the Blues' leading-scorer has played recently.
"These guys have played a ton of hockey over the last 14 months with playoffs, W.C. last year and World Cup and the 82 games on a condensed schedule," Liut wrote in an email to the Post-Dispatch. "So I think this year's World Championships are a stretch for anyone who made it to the second round this year. I certainly prefer that he not play and have expressed that thought given the amount of hockey played over the last 14 months."
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong did not immediately respond to a message from the Post-Dispatch. He is expected to address the media Tuesday morning.
