Vladimir Tarasenko became the Red Wings’ biggest disappointment of 2024-25

Oh, if there’s one player who could be in the running as a bigger disappointment than Vladimir Tarasenko, it’s J.T. Compher, given the latter finishing the season with one fewer point. But even then, you can argue Tarasenko caused more pain for fans. For one, he played in four more games than Compher, and for another, we expected at least a 55-point season from who was once one of the NHL’s more consistent players. 

Conventional wisdom stated that, at some point, Tarasenko would’ve figured it out. A player of his caliber would, right? I mean, he’s rarely had a bad stretch of a season throughout his career, let alone a bad 82-game stretch. But in the end, he wasn’t even worth defending, and there’s still a chance he’ll end up back in a winged wheel next season. 

Grade: F - This is an easy one, and there’s nothing Tarasenko did in 2024-25 that even remotely warrants a positive grade. Maybe you can say he was resilient, but we’re not bumping anyone up a letter grade for effort. Not when you’ve been successful in virtually every other stop. 

Just how poorly did Vladimir Tarasenko’s 2024-25 season go?

Oh, it started out pretty bad, and then pretty bad devolved into bad, and bad devolved into worse. At the end of the season, Tarasenko accrued 33 points and 11 goals in 80 games, with a frustrating 8.3 shooting percentage. 

Yeah, meager basic numbers, and it gets even more tragic when you add in the minus-13. But hey, at least that wasn’t anywhere near the worst on the team, right?

So, if you’re a Wings fan, you’ll have no problem parting with Tarasenko for even future considerations should general manager Steve Yzerman opt to not bring him back. I mean, putting up Patrick Kane numbers would’ve been all he needed, and he couldn’t even come within 25 points of that. 

That said, I’ll concede that, if the Wings moved a player like Tarasenko, there could be some risk involved. He’s had a solid career, and solid is the absolute floor, as he’s won a couple of Stanley Cups and was a pivotal part of the St. Louis Blues 2019 Cup run. Players like Tarasenko, if they struggle through a bad season, can always get it together the following year. 

Chances of Tarasenko bouncing back in 2025-26 if he stays in Detroit?

My issue with Tarasenko is that he didn’t look good under Derek Lalonde, and he never improved under Todd McLellan. This tells me he could’ve had either issues with both systems, or he never developed proper chemistry with his linemates. 

But, as mentioned, players like Tarasenko know how to bounce back from one bad season, and it would be to nobody’s surprise if he did that. To be realistic, if he returned to Detroit and played another year in Hockeytown, he’d bounce back some, but still not to the extent we’d expect. 

Something around 45 points and 17 goals would be realistic, with a negative plus-minus, and a shooting percentage between 10 and 11. Those aren’t great numbers, and they still don’t reflect what Yzerman brought Tarasenko in to do, so there’s no way he’s in Detroit past the 2025-26 season.