In his prime, veteran winger Tomas Tatar was a quality secondary scorer, notching seven seasons of at least 20 goals. However, his production and role have dropped in recent years and it appears that has caught the eye of at least one international team.
Speaking with the Zuger Zeitung last weekend, EV Zug’s manager Reto Klay acknowledged that Tatar is on a shortlist of players the team intends to target this offseason, one that also includes former NHL winger Dominik Kubalik. Zug has seven import players to sign for next season so they’ll be casting a wide net to do so; Klay acknowledged that his shortlist currently consists of somewhere between 20 and 30 players.
After his contract with Montreal ended in 2021, Tatar inked a two-year, $9MM contract with New Jersey. However, his market wasn’t the strongest in 2023 despite a 20-goal, 48-point campaign, resulting in him settling for a one-year, $1.8MM pact. Then this past summer, he opted to sign quickly, taking $1.5MM to return to the Devils.
Last season, Tatar had just nine goals and 15 assists in 70 games between Colorado and Seattle. This year, he has just seven tallies and ten helpers in 71 contests while his playing time is down to just 11 minutes a night, a career low. Given the sharp drop in production, there’s a strong possibility that Tatar could have a weak market this summer, potentially landing in PTO territory. With that in mind, it’s understandable that Zug (and perhaps other international teams) have him on their radar for next season.
It remains to be seen if Tatar would be open to playing overseas at this point of his career. Now 34 and with over 900 NHL regular season games under his belt, would he prefer a low-cost NHL contract or even a tryout opportunity to try to extend his career at the top level? Or, would he be open to heading overseas where he’d take a pay cut but get to play in the top-six role that he’s best suited for? He still has a few more months to make that determination.