Welcome to a new summer series on Last Word On Hockey. In preparation for the NHL Expansion Draft on June 21st, LWOH’s Detroit Red Wings Department will be going in depth on every Wing that is eligible to be picked by the newest NHL squad, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will begin play in the fall. The team will likely follow the seven-forward, three-defensemen, and one goalie format of protecting players, and this series will follow suit with that. For a brush-up on the expansion draft rules, click this link. Without further adieu, we will continue this series with Tomas Tatar, a player looking for a new contract after a red hot finish to last season.
Tomas Tatar
Left Wing, Shoots Left
5’10”, 185 lbs
Age: 27 (This December 1st)
Cap hit: Restricted Free Agent, Coming Off 3-year, $8.25 million deal ($2.75 AAV)
Reasons for Protection
Tatar will be looking for a big pay raise, and for good reason. He lead Detroit in goals with 25 and had his third straight 20+ goal, 45+ point season. His 11 goals from March 1st on tied Brad Marchand and five others for fourth-most in the league in that span as he paced the Wings with a 52.42% Corsi-for percentage during the run. For the season up front his 50.70 Corsi-for per 60 minutes doesn’t seem that special, but it was made up for by his goal scoring and play on the other side of the puck. On one of the more porous defenses in the league, the Ilava native’s 49.39 Corsi-against per 60 ranked just below Anthony Mantha in terms of skaters who had played at least 700 minutes.
His 2.57 goals against per 60 may seem like a red flag, but he wasn’t helped by a .906 save percentage while he was on the ice. He too may not be a leader who will take the reigns of the team from Henrik Zetterberg. He’s another core compliment that will be essential when the team gets some elite pieces from the draft in the coming years. Plus, if the Wings elect to go through the trade route, teams will be lining up with enticing offers for Tatar when he gets signed, as he’s shown the ability to finish on a team that lacks any substance of superstar depth up front.
Reasons for Exposing
There really is no reason to expose Tatar. It would make no sense to do so and in turn lose such a valuable asset for nothing. Ken Holland will also likely move contracts in order to free up enough cap space to re-sign him this summer. This may come by way of leaving goaltender Jimmy Howard exposed or finding a taker for his contract amongst other possible methods. Plus, he still needs to sign a deal.
Verdict
Protect Him.
Tatar is the only Red Wing to score 20+ goals in each of the past three seasons, including being only 20-goal scorer on the team this past season. That alone says something about his finishing ability and his importance to the squad. If it came down to trading either Gustav Nyquist or Tatar outside of Nyquist’s no-trade window, it would have to be Tatar from a goal scoring standpoint in addition to his results at even strength. Of his 20-goal seasons, two have seen him score at least 20 at even strength. The other season saw him net 14 at 5-on-5. To even consider this, however, he must be protected. Tatar will join Nyquist on the protected list among the seven forwards. He will also be rewarded handsomely with a nice deal.
Check back tomorrow as Nick Jensen and his surprising rise get the evaluation treatment.
Each link is a gateway to analysis of each player.
Updated Protection List
Forwards:
Henrik Zetterberg (May 25th)
Frans Nielsen (June 1st)
Gustav Nyquist (June 3rd)
Defensemen:
Mike Green (May 26th)
Xavier Ouellet (June 5th)
Exposed:
Justin Abdelkader (May 27th)
Niklas Kronwall (May 29th)
Darren Helm (May 30th)
Danny DeKeyser (May 31st)
Jonathan Ericsson (June 2nd)
Advanced stats courtesy of Puckalytics.
Main Photo:
