The St. Louis Blues moved star forward Vladimir Tarasenko to long-term injured reserve, the club announced Wednesday.
Tarasenko underwent a third shoulder surgery in late August, and St. Louis planned to re-evaluate him in late January. He had been on the standard injured reserve until Wednesday.
The Blues were expected to place the Russian sniper on LTIR in order to get cap compliant before the start of the regular season. His entire $7.5-million cap hit is now off the books until he returns.
Tarasenko had his second shoulder surgery after playing only 10 regular-season games in 2019-20. He did not return before the pause and played only four contests in August before leaving the bubble for another evaluation that led to his most recent procedure.
The 29-year-old underwent his first shoulder surgery in April 2018.
St. Louis also recalled forwards Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from its taxi squad Wednesday.
