Devils Sign Tomáš Tatar

Winger Tomáš Tatar has landed back with the Devils on a one-year, $1.8MM deal, the team announced Tuesday.

Tatar will be set to return to the Devils after just one season away from the club. He signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche last summer, but appeared in just 27 games before the team traded him to the Seattle Kraken for a 2024 fifth-round pick. Tatar played in 43 more games with Seattle, ultimately totaling a meager 24 points in 70 games this season. That’s a hefty step down from the 20 goals and 48 points that Tatar managed with New Jersey in 2022-23, though signs of bleak scoring shined through as he posted just one goal in 12 games during the 2023 playoffs.

But regardless of the down year, Tatar is still moving back to New Jersey as an acclaimed middle-six scoring winger. Tatar earned that role through five strong seasons with the Detroit Red Wings early in his career, continuously rivaling 20 goals and upwards of 40 or 50 points. Detroit traded Tatar to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the 2018 Trade Deadline, receiving a first, second, and third-round pick in return. Tatar was just a rental for the Golden Knights, though, getting dealt to the Montreal Canadiens alongside Nick Suzuki and a second-round ahead of the 2018-19 season in the deal that landed Vegas Max Pacioretty.

Tatar found the best years of his career in Montreal, setting a career-high 58 points in his first year with the club that he then topped with 61 points in the following year.

Now 33, Tatar likely won’t chase the same scoring heights he once managed. Instead, he’ll look to provide a bunch from the Devils’ bottom-six, likely set for a role alongside Erik Haula and Ondrej Palat. That’s a stout third-line, though New Jersey will certainly have to make up for their lack of speed elsewhere.