It's not often you'll hear a member of a team criticize management after naming a new captain. However, in an interview with Sport24.ru in Russia, Vladimir Tarasenko states quite bluntly that he should have been the next captain of the St. Louis Blues over Ryan O'Reilly.
"Of course, when you play for eight years in a club and have been an assistant for a long time, you count on it," said Tarasenko when asked if he expected to be named leader of the Blues. "[Jaden] Schwartz and I have played the longest for St. Louis of the guys on the team now. But the management made a decision, I see no reason to discuss it. There were hopes, but how it happened, it happened. I just have to accept it, go out and play."
"I think it's okay to count on certain leadership positions after eight years at the club," Tarasenko continued. "But everyone has their own opinion. [My agent] Alexey Dementyev expressed it and has every right to do so. This is probably not the time for intrigue. I personally want to focus on recovering from my injury."
Tarasenko had a second surgery on his injured left shoulder in August and was expected to be sidelined for around five months, meaning he could return to the ice sometime in February if all goes well. Tarasenko had the same shoulder surgically repaired in October of 2019. The first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2010 (16th overall) has 214 goals and 428 points in 507 regular season games with the team.
