I've been musing a bit on Tarasenko.
The previous thread had speculation about Mikheyev for Tarasenko, and I'm considering the likelihood of that here.
These are the teams speculated to be after him in the offseason: CAR, OTT, FLA, SJ and NSH. He rejected the alternatives to sign with OTT. Initially, he wanted to re-sign with NYR for term. They couldn't do that for him. After that, he still chose to reject other contenders in FLA and CAR to sign with OTT. He may have thought at that point to go for the money.
And so, I went through looking for contenders with the ability to re-sign him for 2 years at $5m per. As well, the teams that may be willing to give up a middle-6 forward in exchange. This is what OTT is speculated to want.
Now obviously, moving Mikheyev in a deal for Tarasenko is favourable here. It just depends on whether OTT values NHL players rather than futures. FLA and CAR are unlikely to be able to send players back, and would probably only want Tarasenko as a rental (for futures). In VAN though, he could be re-signed for 2 years for only a small increase over and above Mikheyev's current salary.
Last, going after Tarasenko vs Guentzel, or even just re-signing Tarasenko over retaining Lindholm here, allows VAN to maintain their cap flexibility rather than locking in another Miller-esque contract. It's the type of move that can work very well from many angles.