The Colorado Avalanche have taken one of the best remaining free agents off the market. They’ve signed veteran forward Tomáš Tatar to a one-year contract.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Tatar’s one-year deal is worth $1.5MM. CapFriendly has added that the deal is $1.5MM exclusively in base salary, and does not include any form of trade protection.
Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland issued the following statement regarding Tatar’s signing:
Tomas has been a consistent, productive player throughout his NHL career. He is a veteran winger who brings scoring depth to our middle six and can contribute at both ends of the ice. We are excited to have him under contract for this season.
On one hand, it’s certainly surprising to see a player like Tatar wait so long to receive a contract, and receive a contract at a $1.5MM AAV. Tatar is, after all, one of the NHL’s more consistent regular-season goal scorers.
Tatar has crossed the 20-goal plateau seven times in his career, and at certain times has posted the numbers of a top-line scorer. In 2019-20, Tatar led the Montreal Canadiens in scoring with 61 points in 68 games, a 74-point pace.
He’s been a consistent first or second-line scorer throughout his NHL career, and isn’t even coming off of a poor season, as he scored 20 goals and 48 points in 2022-23.
But as NHL teams place more of a priority on players who can bring them playoff success, the biggest red flag on Tatar’s resume has to have been the single greatest reason he’s languished on the market so long.
At this point in Tatar’s career, there’s no mistaking what he is. He’s a high-quality, consistent scorer in the regular season who is all but certain to almost disappear come playoff time. Tatar has just 13 points in 52 career postseason games. Twice, Tatar’s team has left him a frequent healthy scratch en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
On a consistent basis, NHL teams have found Tatar’s playoff struggles so severe that they’re forced to simply sit him in the press box rather than hope that he can suddenly find a scoring touch. With that in mind, it becomes a little less surprising that Tatar has waited so long to receive a deal.
At a $1.5MM cap hit, though, those playoff concerns are far less important. Regardless of how he’ll fare in the postseason, the Avalanche are receiving a consistent 20-goal threat at a cap hit lower than what many teams pay their fourth-line centers.
Tatar stands a really strong chance at providing the Avalanche with a lot of surplus value on his cap hit, and the $1.5MM cap hit minimizes the downside risk of this investment should Tatar once again falter in the playoffs.
So while Tatar certainly has his critics due to his postseason play, his regular-season value is undeniable. At a $1.5MM investment, this is a no-brainer signing for the Avalanche.
They add Tatar to an already impressive mix set of scoring wingers, and should Tatar manage to win the left-wing job on the team’s first line (beating out three of his former teammates in Artturi Lehkonen, Miles Wood, and Jonathan Drouin for the job) he could even have a chance for a career year.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Steal of a contract. This really fell into Colorados lap.
Feel bad for Tatar that he had to settle for this, but what an absolute steal for the Avs. Even Sakic himself probably can’t believe his luck. One of the best team-friendly signings in recent memory.
@Lightning Strike – I don’t think Joey or Chris MacFarland is having an “I can’t believe we’re so lucky” moment for Steak Tatar. This sentence, alone, that @Ethan wrote, tells it all, “Twice, Tatar’s team has left him a frequent healthy scratch en route to the Stanley Cup Final.” Tatar may very well end up being a regular season trick pony.
Fair, but I have a hard time attributing Tatar’s playoff misfortunes to anything other than mentally struggling at the worst time of year. The skill is clearly there, he just needs to get out of his own head. A team badly in need of more depth having to fork over just $1.5 million for a seven-time 20-goal scorer with no long-term commitment seems well worth the risk, even given his playoff performance history (or more appropriately, lack thereof).
@Lightning Strike – At age 32, I’m not holding my breath on him finally “getting it.” Now, if they think they could possibly struggle to get into the playoffs (that mentality would be worrying itself), then maybe Tatar can get them over that hump and stay there. Let’s face it, they’ve done an underwhelming job trying to replace Kadri and Burakovsky’s production, so maybe Tatar will be a small, but noticeable bump, compared to, say, E-Rod.
Tatar should have held out for 2.75 to 3. Why would he sign for that?
He wasn’t going to get that much, even though he deserves it. He wanted a longer-term deal earlier in the offseason, but didn’t get it (reportedly he was offered 1-year deals notably higher than this one, but turned them down in hopes of getting longer term), and at this point most teams that need a player of his caliber are straddling the cap. At least this way he gets to play with a ton of talent, and can set himself up for a bigger payday next summer.
He’s been holding out since July 1st.
You misspelt Patrick Kane
Just once I’d like to see a player say thanks but no thanks and sit out until the trade deadline if that’s what it takes and display some self respect and or pride. Nothing wrong with knowing your value and not settling.
Great point. Get paid zero for an ego trip instead of drawing a fat paycheck. Where do you come up with this stuff? You have obviously never taken even an entry level economics class so here is a starter kit. Players don’t determine their value. GM’s don’t determine player value. Agents don’t determine player value. And you amusingly believing that this guy is worth twice what he got paid certainly does not determine his value. All parties have their opinion but ultimately the market makes that determination. Simply supply/demand economics. Day one of any economics course. Tomas Tatar’s value has now been determined to be $1.5 MM for this season.
Gotta be signed by sometime in December don’t you? Or you have to go through waivers
Avs hitting all the right notes this off-season.
The Central is the Aves and Stars…. and everybody else
The Wild can play.