The St. Louis Blues traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Sammy Blais, prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick, and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2024, the teams announced Thursday.

St. Louis is also retaining 50% of Tarasenko's salary, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. A pending unrestricted free agent, Tarasenko is playing out the last season of an eight-year pact with a cap hit of $7.5 million.

His 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 38 games this season were the fifth most on the Blues.

Tarasenko was the Rangers' longtime target, and the team opted to make a push for him after feeling the costs for Timo Meier and Patrick Kane were too high, reports ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

New York sits third in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-14-8 record. The Rangers needed some help up front, ranking 15th in the league with 164 goals this season.

Tarasenko reportedly requested a trade out of St. Louis in July 2021, but nothing materialized. Tarasenko supposedly lost trust in the team over how it handled two of his three shoulder surgeries. Team physicians operated on the six-time 30-goal scorer's shoulder in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, doctors from outside the organization performed an additional procedure after the ligament damage from the original injury wasn't fixed during the first two surgeries.

The winger was limited to just 34 games across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, but he enjoyed a resurgence last season, leading St. Louis with 82 points in 75 games.

The 31-year-old was instrumental during the Blues' run to the Stanley Cup in 2019, chipping in with 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 26 playoff games, including two game-winners.

When asked about his uncertain outlook during last weekend’s All-Star festivities, the veteran simply responded, "Even Vladi doesn’t know the future of Vladi," according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford.

The Blues are in a state of flux. They own a 23-25-3 record and are currently nine points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Captain Ryan O'Reilly can become an unrestricted free agent in a few months and may also be on the move with the trade deadline just a few weeks away.

As for the other piece headed to the Rangers in the deal, Mikkola, 26, put up three assists in 50 games with St. Louis this season while averaging 16:39 minutes of ice time per night.

Blues fans are already familiar with Blais, who has five helpers in 40 contests this campaign. St. Louis dealt him to New York in July 2021 as part of the trade that sent Pavel Buchnevich to the Blues. Blais, 26, put up 35 points through 119 games during his first St. Louis stint but was limited to just 14 games last season after suffering a torn ACL.

The Rangers drafted Skinner in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. The 6-foot-3 blue-liner has eight points in the ECHL this season, as well as two assists in eight games with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced superstar defenseman Cale Makar will miss at least two games with a head injury, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter hit Makar high in Tuesday's overtime loss. He briefly left the contest but ultimately returned.

The NHL Department of Player Safety didn't review the hit, and it wasn't deemed a penalty in real time.

Makar and the Avalanche voiced their displeasure with the hit after the contest. The reigning Norris and Conn Smythe winner called it "pretty blindside," while Bednar said Carter "skated right through" Makar's head.

The Avalanche will be without Makar for Thursday's Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Tampa Bay Lightning as well as Saturday's clash against the Florida Panthers. Colorado returns home for another contest with the Bolts on Feb. 14.

Makar missed four games earlier this season with an upper-body injury. He's putting together yet another spectacular campaign with 45 points in 45 appearances while logging over 27 minutes per contest.

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New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff announced star forward Jack Hughes is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, according to team reporter Amanda Stein.

Hughes, 21, is in the midst of a career season with 35 goals and 67 points in 50 contests.

He played 21:44 during the Devils' 5-4 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and recorded three points in the victory, including an assist on Jesper Bratt's game-winner.

Hughes left Wednesday's practice early after taking Tuesday off due to upper-body soreness.

He was the Devils' sole representative during the All-Star Game last weekend, logging just under six minutes of ice time during the Metropolitan Division's defeat at the hands of the Atlantic.

Ruff added that he thinks Hughes' recovery timeline will be on the shorter end, given that "he's a young guy."

His absence is a major blow to a Devils team that currently holds the second-place spot in the Metropolitan with a 33-13-4 record. Hughes leads the entire league in goals above replacement (20.4) and wins above replacement (3.4), per Evolving-Hockey.

Hughes was on a nine-game point streak before the injury.

Drafted by New Jersey with the first overall pick in 2019, Hughes has 175 points in 216 career contests.

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The Calgary Flames announced defenseman Rasmus Andersson is day-to-day after he was struck by a vehicle Wednesday in Detroit.

Andersson was riding a scooter to dinner when the incident occurred. He was taken to a local hospital and underwent a series of tests before being released. He will remain with the team.

"He's doing well and is in good spirits," general manager Brad Treliving said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Francis. "He's very lucky - it certainly could have been a lot worse. He's a little rattled. ... He won't play tonight and then we'll see. No injuries we are overly concerned about, but we will see."

The Flames play the Red Wings on Thursday night in the third leg of a five-game road trip.

Andersson is the Flames' top right-side defenseman. The 26-year-old has registered 34 points in 51 games this season while leading the club with 24:41 of ice time per contest.

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Welcome to the fifth edition of theScore's 2022-23 Norris Trophy Rankings and the fourth in-season version. New rankings are published once a month throughout the campaign.

These rankings focus on analytics and the all-around ability of defensemen rather than just points or reputation.

• xGF% = the share of expected goals a team produces while a player is on the ice at five-on-five

5. Miro Heiskanen, Stars

Previous rank: N/A

This list has a clear top four, but the No. 5 spot is wide-open. There's a case to be made for several blue-liners in this spot, though Heiskanen is far better defensively than offensive defensemen like Josh Morrissey, Roman Josi, and Dougie Hamilton while being much more of a threat offensively than shutdown defenders Jaccob Slavin and Jared Spurgeon.

Heiskanen is a versatile workhorse. He's effective at both ends of the ice at five-on-five, quarterbacks the Stars' seventh-ranked power play, and posted the lowest expected goals against per 60 minutes while shorthanded among Dallas' regular blue-liners on its second-ranked penalty kill. He's a jack of all trades.

4. Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres

Previous rank: 5th

Dahlin has been excellent since the last rankings, tallying 16 points in 14 games with a 52.97 xGF%. The main issue with his game this season continues to be a theme, though: He can't stay out of the box.

The young Swede has tallied 20 penalty minutes in his last 14 games and is up to 64 on the season - fourth-most among blue-liners. The amount of penalties he's taken has cost him more than a full goal on his 15.5 goals above replacement, which ranks third among defensemen.

There's nothing wrong with playing with an edge, but if Dahlin can harness his aggressiveness, he could easily climb higher on this list. Everything else about his game is there.

3. Adam Fox, Rangers

Previous rank: 2nd

Fox has been a staple of consistency, never ranking worse than No. 3 on our in-season Norris rankings. He's also never gone more than two consecutive games without a point.

The 24-year-old has driven offense at a high rate and been responsible defensively this season. Fox leads the Rangers' blue-liners in both expected goals for per 60 minutes and expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five. With Igor Shesterkin not reaching his usual lofty standards, Fox has undoubtedly been New York's MVP.

He falls one spot on this list through no fault of his own and was simply passed by a superstar who's starting to get red-hot.

2. Cale Makar, Avalanche

Previous rank: 4th

Fox and Makar are neck and neck, but the Avalanche phenom gets the edge because of the amazing job he's done carrying an injury-ravished team. With the roster around him now starting to get healthier, Makar has heated up further, recording 11 points in nine games with a 60.9 xGF% since the last rankings.

The torrid pace of late has pushed Makar, who leads all NHL skaters in average ice time, up two spots on this list. As things stand, it's not enough to move him into No. 1, but there's still plenty of time left for last year's Norris winner to make a push to repeat.

1. Erik Karlsson, Sharks

Previous rank: 1st

There's just no stopping Karlsson at this point. The two-time Norris winner has maintained his elite production, racking up 16 points in 13 games since the last rankings. His underlying numbers continue to improve, too, as he's posted a spectacular 62.84 xGF% in that span.

Karlsson isn't perfect defensively, but the way he's been able to drive offense at a historic rate on one of the worst teams in hockey remains remarkable and more than makes up for any deficiencies in his own end. His 51 even-strength points still lead all NHL skaters and are 19 more than the next highest defenseman. He also paces all blue-liners with 17.2 goals above replacement.

(Analytics sources: Evolving-Hockey, Natural Stat Trick)

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