Summer Spotlight: Tarasov finished strong during 2023-24

In the leadup to training camp in September, BlueJackets.com is featuring CBJ players each weekday this summer.

How he got here: If it feels like you’ve been hearing about Tarasov for a while, the Blue Jackets drafted the Russian netminder in the third round of the 2017 draft. It’s been a long road for him to get to Columbus, as the native of Novokuznetsk came up through the Salavat Yulaev Ufa system, spent a year in Finland, then returned to Russia for an excellent season in the KHL. In 2020-21, Tarasov first came to North America to play for AHL Cleveland, and he’s spent time with the Monsters and Blue Jackets in each of the last three campaigns.

The 2023-24 season: Tarasov was injured at the start of the season and didn’t make his debut until December, but the goaltender finished strong. It took some time for Tarasov to get his legs back under him, but once he did, he posted a .933 save percentage in his last 13 appearances from late February through early April. Included were three games with at least 40 saves, as Tarasov showed he could stand in and be a difference maker in tight contests. Perhaps most importantly, he also became a dad during the season.

Top moment: As we noted, Tarasov racked up some impressive save totals in games this season, and one of those was the Blue Jackets’ 4-1 victory over Colorado in Nationwide Arena on April Fools Day. Tarasov was the No. 1 star of that effort, stopping 45 of 46 shots including 17 apiece in both the second and third periods against one of the top offensive teams in the game.

Fun fact: Maybe there’s something in the water when it comes to Novokuznetsk and goaltenders. A city in southwestern Siberia with more than 500,000 residents, Novokuznetsk has produced two goaltenders who have gone on to play for the Jackets in both Tarasov and Sergei Bobrovsky. A third goalie born there, Tom Keisewetter, was part of the team’s development camp last summer as well.

Stat to Know: Perhaps a little playing time was all Tarasov needed to get himself going. The CBJ netminder improved both his goals-against average and save percentage during every month of the season last year, including a 2.55 GAA and .931 save percentage in March and a 2.31 GAA and .951 save percentage in April.

Expectations for 2024-25: If all goes well, Tarasov could show himself to be a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL this season based on the way he finished the last campaign. He’ll go into camp battling with Elvis Merzlikins for the starting job, and both will get plenty of opportunities to shine, but Tarasov has some excellent momentum coming off of last season. If he can stay healthy, Tarasov has the size and game to make another step forward this season.