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Thoughts on Green / Free Agency: UFAs - Tomas Tatar |
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Thoughts on Green / Free Agency: UFAs - Tomas Tatar
Hey everyone, Happy Juneteenth and hope you all are having a great start to your week so far. Before our next UFA profile, we had some news come out today regarding our coaching staff. Per NJ.com and Elliotte Friedman, the Devils are reportedly hiring former Vancouver Canucks and Utica Comets head coach Travis Green as our next assistant coach. Green’s resume boasts both on ice and behind the bench credentials. He was drafted by the Islanders and played 15 seasons with 5 teams (NYI, ANA, PHX, TOR, BOS.) Statistically, his most productive seasons were in NY but his deepest playoff run was with Toronto in 2002, making it to the Conference Semifinals. On the coaching side of things, he’s had mixed results. While head coaching the Canucks for 5 seasons, he made the playoffs once before being ousted by Vegas. Two of those seasons posted an above .500 winning record. In the Junior/Minor League side, he’s had a bit more success, winning a WHL championship with Portland and making the playoffs twice with Utica.
Most likely his role with the team will be focused on special teams. If that is the case, I am a bit skeptical that he can make an improvement. While his Vancouver team did crack the top 5 in PP % during their playoff season with Green, they otherwise were mediocre. Furthermore, I was really pulling for a promotion for either Sergei Brylin or Kevin Dineen. Hopefully, this pessimism will be soundly proven wrong and I wish Green all the best as he seeks to not only improve his personal record in coaching, but also the Devils.
Here are the UFAs currently on the Devils’ roster:
Offense:
Erik Haula - Suggest resigning at $2M for 2-3 years with bonuses to offset bidding war
Tomas Tatar
Miles Wood
Defense:
Ryan Graves
Goaltending:
Jonathan Bernier
Potential Leftover Cap - $10,532,500
Our next UFA to discuss is:
Tomas Tatar
Fun Fact: Tomas Tatar’s deepest playoff run wasn’t in the NHL, but in the AHL for the Grand Rapids Griffins in Grand Rapids, MI while he was developing in Detroit’s farm system. His 2012-2013 season saw him and his team take the Calder Cup AHL Championship. That roster also included current Devils teammate Brendan Smith, although Smith didn’t play in the AHL playoffs that year.
Player Profile and Season Storyline:
A late second round draft pick by Detroit in 2009, Tatar became a mid-6 winger for the Red Wings and contributed steady point production over his 7 seasons. Following a trade and brief stint in Vegas, Tatar was part of a trade package sent to Montreal in exchange for Max Pacioretty. In the City of Saints, he established his career high in points, playing with Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault during that season, according to HockeyReference. Tatar would go on to sign a 2 year, $9M contract with the Devils in 2021. Tatar would bounce from the top line in some cases to the mid-to-lower 6, finding the most productivity with Hischier and Mercer last season. While having a thrilling goal against the Rangers, Tatar was largely unproductive for the playoffs this season.
Stat Analysis:
This season, Tomas Tatar went 20G-28A-48P in an 82 game regular season while he had a bad postseason with 1G-0A-1P in 12 games. You may think to yourself, “that’s disappointing, he's a veteran and should produce more in the playoffs.” Unfortunately, that’s what you should expect with him, given that ranges between 1-4 points in the postseason. Tatar is a player you bring in to add firepower and shore up the upper-to-mid 6 of your team with decent production and skillful finishing along with decent physicality. His 153 shots last season accounted for 13.1% of the total team share of shots.
Benefits and Drawbacks for Bringing Back:
Benefits - Veteran presence who can still play full seasons, push into the 50 points range, and bring a physical presence.
Drawbacks - He would be taking a slot from a possibly more productive younger player, and he doesn’t really contribute any points during the postseason.
Should we keep him:
Verdict - Let him walk. I’ve really enjoyed watching Tatar play over the last two seasons and I hold no ill will against him. But Tom Fitzgerald has to consider the future. If this team develops the way our fans hope for and many in the hockey world predict (currently tied 4th with Vegas for Stanley Cup betting odds,) we need to constantly improve and become more dangerous, not only in the regular season but the playoffs as well. Having Tatar take a spot on the team closes the door for another player, whether they be in the AHL/prospect pool like Holtz or Foote, or a player we can acquire in a trade or free agency. Happy Trails, if I was in the GM chair.
That leaves our cap situation as:
Potential Leftover Cap - $10,532,500
Leave your thoughts or comments below. Raise Hell!
-Josh Biringer
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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