"I'm focused on the games," Tarasenko said at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game Media Day on Thursday. "I don't think I should waste my time and energy to be focused on things I cannot control. You can ask [general manager Doug Armstrong] what's going to happen."
Tarasenko, who will represent the Blues at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS), is in the final season of an eight-year, $60 million contract ($7.5 million average annual value) he signed July 7, 2015 and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent when it expires. The 31-year-old forward has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 38 games this season, but no points in four games since returning from a hand injury that sidelined him for 10 games.
St. Louis (23-25-3) has lost five in a row and trails the Colorado Avalanche by eight points for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Facing the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018, the Blues could be sellers before the trade deadline, but Tarasenko isn't giving up hope.
"I don't think the season's gone well and everybody knows it, but there's still some time," said Tarasenko, who has played 11 seasons with St. Louis after being selected by the Blues with the No. 16 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. "We have belief in the room, and personally my own situation, you can ask Doug about it. It all depends on him."
Tarasenko's belief that the Blues can qualify for the playoff stems from how they turned their season around in 2018-19. That season, they went from 15-18-4 and last place in the League standings Jan. 2 to 45-29-9 and winning the Stanley Cup.
"That just gives you an example that you can change things if you want and everybody has to be in the same boat," Tarasenko said. "So I think it's a good experience for guys who were there and we'll see what's going to happen."
The Blues are a month later into their schedule than they were in 2018-19, but Tarasenko thinks they have what it takes to climb back into the playoff race.
"Just dig in deeper and keep believing and I truly believe we can turn it around," he said. "But time will show."
