Well, this was unexpected. As my friend David Rogers posted over at The Blue Note Zone, Blues’ prospect Vladimir Tarasenko’s deal with SKA St. Petersburg has hit a snag. And by snag, I mean he’ll be in Peoria instead unless SKA trades Tarasenko’s rights.

Tarasenko’s agent apparently made demands that weren’t particularly pleasing to the management of SKA, which might mean that they wanted his ice time to go up. As one of the Blues’ top prospects that could benefit greatly from top minutes against top competition, it’s probably for the best that he go down to Peoria and play on the Rivermen’s top line. The competition in the AHL this year will be much more difficult than usual with the influx of regular but young NHLers, and Tarasenko could use the practice.