That doesn;t get you close to Tarasenko. Bailey coming back is a non-starter and the rest is very meh.

So why exactly does NSH do this?

This Nashville trade is absolutely Hilarious.

What is it that you think an injured rental Tarasenko is worth? I can see the Blues not wanting Bailey (although they're most likely going to have to take back some salary to make it a trade work), but a 2nd plus a close to NHL ready 23-year old defensemen seems in the ballpark of fair value.

I don't know how healthy Tarasenko's hand is but he has played the last 4 games and i'm going to assume he is going to get healthier over the next 4 weeks so I would think a 1st and prospect or young roster player gets it done.

Lou has to offer his yacht and his grandkids if you want to make STL fans happy

Well, for starters, I have no idea how you figure Tarasenko is injured - he's been back for a week now, so he's all rested up. Secondly, taking back Bailey could be fine if he was a UFA - taking back cap that remains on the books for next season is a no-go unless its realllly worth it, and this ain't. Salo is 24, so gosh he better be NHL ready. Meanwhile, he's a minus skater, play small, sheltered 3rd pairing, offensive-leaning D-man, which ticks pretty much every box for what the Blues are not looking for. All Blues D-men are plus skaters, which is not an accident. He's simply not going to interest them much, they already have far too many LDs like him as is. Finally, Tarasenko is easily worth a 23 1st, and if a bunch of teams start calling, another something. Nobody is going to nickel and dime their way to him. With Kane hobbling, he's probably the most desirable winger on the market by a decent margin because he's a true playoff sniper (6th among active players in playoff g/gp) and especially at 5v5 (9th among active players even strength g/60, but half of those higher than him have only played around 20-ish career playoff games - he's played 90).

Dude, this offer is not close. OBVIOUSLY. But sure, you could spin this as a case of Blues fans being cartoonishly greedy... it's not remotely reasonable or believable, but you can do it.

He'll get two seconds if you're lucky. Maybe a 1st, if a GM is feeling goofy.

Mmmmbrokay, man. And what other remaining UFA goalscorer is going to get better?

Bailey is a dump at this point. Don't want him at all so if we are taking him we need to be compensated. The rest of the package isn't attractive at all for Tarasenko alone

Nobody! Nobody is paying a first in this draft for a pure winger rental.

Okay then. We'll see soon enough.

Wrong side of 30 and missed significant time in 3 of the last 4 seasons, so caveat emptor. One goal in his last 10 games (granted, still plenty of time to heat up before the deadline). Full NTC, so he decides where (and if) he's going. Maybe they can get a 1st plus for him, but all of those factors drag his value down, so it wouldn't surprise me if they have to settle for a 2nd plus a prospect.

Okay, well, using your descriptions, it's still not even "a 2nd plus a prospect" for Tarasenko - Salo has passed the age of "prospect" and taking back Bailey would cost if they were down for it, which they are not.

I said a 2nd plus Salo might be in the ballpark; swap out Salo for someone else if you don't like him. I think he has appeal as being NHL ready for a team that's probably not looking for a complete tear down but YMMV. And, like it or not, since there aren't many teams that can take on his cap hit, they may have to take some salary back, even if it's not Bailey (which like I said originally, I understand not wanting him - for a variety of reasons).