Healthy Scratch: Those are the two words that come to mind when I think of Vegas Golden Knights left winger, Tomas Tatar. As the Vegas Golden Knights prepare for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, it’s more than likely head coach Gerard Gallant will stay with the status quo and keep Tatar inactive.
If you’ll recall back in late February when the trade rumors were swirling about the possibility of certain Knights veterans being shopped around, many fans were irate the organization would even think about changing the continuity of the current roster. On February 26, Knights general manager George McPhee didn’t subtract from the roster, but instead added to it by trading in exchange for a first-round pick in 2018, a second-round pick in 2019, and a third-round pick in 2021 to Detroit in exchange for Tatar.
The speedy left winger even notched a goal against Winnipeg in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final to give the Knights their first lead of the entire series, a series they went on to win 4-1.
Some would say McPhee gave up a big chunk of the future to make the current roster much deeper. After further review it looks like McPhee traded a big chunk of the future for a player that doesn’t currently contribute.
Tatar is 27 years old and is making a cool $5.3 million a year with the Golden Knights. The only player on the current roster that makes more money than Tatar is Marc-Andre Fleury at $5.75 million. On top of his salary, Tatar is the only current Golden Knight with a true (non-modified) no trade clause. So, the idea of possibly trading Tatar in the offseason is highly unlikely. To say that Tatar has underperformed when it comes to his salary is an understatement. In the 20 regular season games that Tatar played in for the Golden Knights he had a +/- of -11. The Stanley Cup Playoffs haven’t been any kinder to Tatar. Out of the 16 postseason games the Golden Knights have participated in, Tatar has only played in six of them. In those six games he has a +/- of 0. Honestly, I feel for Tomas Tatar. He was dropped into a difficult situation with a team that was firing on all cylinders when he arrived in late February. Gallant tried experimenting with Tatar on the first three lines, but just couldn’t find any continuity. Tatar has now been regulated to stay game ready incase another player gets injured. So, what does the future hold for Tomas Tatar? Well, everybody has their own varying opinions. Maybe Tatar will have a big role on this team in 2018-19 either on the second or third line. He is a fantastic skater with quick feet and can handle the puck with the best of them. Big things could be in Tatar’s future as a Vegas Golden Knight...just don’t see that happening in the remaining games of the Stanley Cup Final.
