Kraken Traded Draft Pick To Colorado Avalanche Friday For Veteran Winger
Above Photo: Tomas Tatar, wearing #90 with Colorado earlier this season, the same number he'll use in Seattle.
The Seattle Kraken are trying to strike Eeli-Tolvanen gold for a second straight season, acquiring veteran winger Tomas Tatar Friday from the Colorado Avalanche.
By last January, Tolvanen had fallen out of favor with the Nashville Predators, to the point he had been a healthy scratch. Same for Tatar with Colorado.
Tolvanen's acquisition was low risk; plucked from the waiver wire, he didn't cost the Kraken any assets. Tatar arrives for the cost of just a 5th round 2024 draft choice.
Tolvanen, a former Nashville 1st round pick, was affordable. He's on the final year of a contract with an annual cap hit of $1.45 million. Tatar, a former 2nd round pick by Detroit, is affordable as well. In the off-season he signed a one year, $1.5 million deal with the Avs.
(With some creative salary juggling, the Kraken were able to fit Tatar under their cap. Specifically, placing injured winger Jaden Schwartz on long term IR, and - for one day, on paper only - moving Tye Kartye down to the AHL, and Shane Wright up.)
The (pro-rated) $1.5 million question is whether Tatar can deliver offensive punch the way Tolvanen has.
Given new life with Seattle, Tolvanen used his bazooka of a shot to score 16 goals in 48 games with the Kraken in 2022-23, plus three more in the playoffs. This season, he has eight goals and 20 points in 31 games, including a marker in Thursday's 7-1 demolition of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Though Tatar struggled to fit in Colorado - one goal, nine points in 27 games - he's a proven goal scorer. In 810 career NHL games, he has 212 goals, and has recorded 20 or more in seven different seasons.
Analytics say he's also a better two-way player than he's usually given credit for, strong in the defensive half of the ice.
One knock on Tatar is that his offense has betrayed him in the playoffs. For the Kraken, they'd like to have the chance to evaluate Tatar for themselves by reaching the playoffs.
Another Tolvanen parallel: Tatar's one-year deal is known in the NHL as a "show me" contract. In other words, the 33-year-old native of Ilava, Slovakia will be highly motivated to prove he's worthy of new, higher paying contract in the coming off-season.
The Kraken will be delighted if he does; if not, his acquisition will still have carried a low risk.
One extra benefit to the acquisition is psychological. Tatar's new teammates, who just pulled out of an eight game winless streak, see that management is responsive to injury and goal-producing issues. The front office is sending a message that they haven't given up on the season, either.
New Team, Same Aspirations
Seattle is Tomas Tatar's sixth NHL stop. After six seasons with the Red Wings, he also played with the Vegas Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Avalanche.
Drafted by Detroit, 60th overall in 2009, the 5-10, 173 pound Tatar received this review from Sports Illustrated's Allan Muir: "He's small, but wildly creative with the puck and has the courage to drive hard to the net."
Making a splash as a rookie with the Red Wings in 2013, Tatar told the Detroit Free Press, "I'm not the biggest guy, so I got to be way quicker than the other 'D's.' If there's an opportunity for a rebound, I have to try and be the first guy there."
He added, "I kind of know what's my role, and I just have to play good." A decade later, that's what the Kraken are hoping for, too.
