Vladimir Tarasenko left the NHL bubble early for a shoulder re-evaluation, and never returned.
He was never given a chance to return, since the Blues were bumped in round one by the Canucks, but it appears he wouldn’t’ve returned anyway.
Tarasenko was injured back in October in a game against the Los Angeles Kings, and had to have a shoulder surgery that put him out of the lineup for five months. Fans were looking forward to his playoff return even before the pandemic; with the extra recovery time, they could be forgiven for assuming that Tarasenko would be a differencemaker in the playoffs.