Devils sign Tomas Tatar

  When the New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton and Jonathan Bernier, Tom Fitzgerald stated that the Devils had one final position that the team planned to upgrade- a forward that could play on either of the top two lines.

Fitzgerald signed Tomas Tatar from the Montreal Canadiens as that forward and while Tatar has been productive, there are a few questions about the veteran winger.

Tatar has scored twenty goals or more in six of his eight seasons with a seventh with 19 but scored only ten last season with Montreal with twenty assists in fifty games for Montreal.

The downside for Montreal's run to the Eastern Conference finals for Tatar?

He played in only five games, finishing with only one assist.

Tatar isn't a bad defensive player according to the hockey metrics (don't ask me), his goal scoring has been consistent, and he's not an ancient player as he turns 31 in December.

Well, it seems that Montreal's coaching staff with head coach Dominque Ducharme had soured on Tatar when they replaced the Claude Julien staff in the middle of last season.

That's not uncommon as sometimes returning players aren't a good fit with new staff as the Devils saw last season with Will Butcher with the Lindy Ruff staff and it also doesn't have to be an attitude issue.

Tatar was coveted by several teams, which shows a lot of teams realize that Tatar was miscast in Montreal, not a malcontent or having fading skills and this may have come down to the New Jersey cap space as Tatar was clearly the best remaining free agent after the initial smoke cleared.

Tatar was signed to a two-year contract worth 4.5 million for each season, so the cost is fair and it could be a very nice bargain for a player that generally can be counted on for twenty to twenty-five goals a season.

The final thing that I really liked about Tatar was his strength in five-on-five play as he scored eight of his ten at even strength and if you add his previous two seasons in Tatar scored thirty-five of his forty-seven were scored at five on five.

I like this signing as it seems to address the team's largest need at the time and not with a choking level contract.

New Jersey also retained right-winger Yegor Sharangovich to a two-year contract for a combined four million.

Sharangovich finished with sixteen goals and fourteen assists in his rookie season last year and will be a restricted free agent after the 2022-23 season.