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Over the past three seasons only 5 NHL forwards have made the same AAV that the St. Louis Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko will be pulling down for the next 8 years: Stamkos, Datsyuk, Parise, Gaborik, Heatley. In the charts below you can see their point production compared to Tarasenko. When aggregating all three seasons, Tarasenko comes out on top in terms of point production per 60 minutes of ice time. However, that is mostly the result of last season. In 2012-2013 he was second to Stamkos and in 2013-14 he was 3rd in points per 60. Finally, you can take a look at where Tarasenko places amongst all forwards in the past three seasons comparing the AAV of the contract he was under to the players who were playing with the 7.5 AAV during the previous 3 seasons and then everyone else. The takeaway? Tarasenko deserves the contract he just signed. And as far as the term of the contract?
The best news for Tarasenko ? 7 of those 8 years COULD be with a coach that knows how to use him. #stlblues
— Kyle Foxton (@kfox9611) July 7, 2015