A Winning Habit
Fansided

Montreal Canadiens: Can They Afford To Keep Danault Line Long Term?

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 17: Brendan Gallagher #11, Phillip Danault #24 and Tomas Tatar #90 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrate after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on October 17, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 17: Brendan Gallagher #11, Phillip Danault #24 and Tomas Tatar #90 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrate after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on October 17, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 2: Tomas Tatar #90 (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 2: Tomas Tatar #90 (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Left Wing: Tomas Tatar

Tatar was basically a throw-in in the Max Pacioretty trade. For whatever reason, things did not work out very well during his short stay with the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas, an expansion team at the time gave up first, second and third round picks for Tatar who was not having his best season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Leading up to the trade, Tatar had 16 goals and 28 points in 62 games in Detroit. He was scoring goals at a 20 goal pace, but was not exactly performing up to the expectations he created to that point in his career.

Tatar scored 19 goals and 39 points in 73 games as a rookie with the Red Wings in 2013-14. Following that performance, he had seasons of 29, 21 and 25 goals and was between 45 and 56 points each year. He was having a down season in 2017-18, but the Knights rolled the dice on a bounce back.

He bounced back alright, but he didn’t do it until he landed in Montreal. The Canadiens acquired him along with Nick Suzuki and a second round pick for Pacioretty.

Though the Slovakia native had just six points in 20 games in Vegas and found himself a healthy scratch in the postseason, he proved that season was an aberration. He quickly found chemistry with Danault and Gallagher and scored 25 goals and 58 points for the Habs last season.

That set a new career high in points, but is only slightly above his average season before his one disappointing campaign. If he continues to show he is a regular 25 goal scoring winger who can put up 50-55 points, what is he going to be worth as an unrestricted free agent?

Tatar has two years left with a cap hit of $5.3 million, though Vegas is paying about ten percent of that right now. I doubt he will be willing to take a pay cut. A good comparable for him right now is a former linemate during his time in the Motor City, Gustav Nyquist.

Nyquist played last season with the Red Wings and San Jose Sharks where he was dealt at the trade deadline. He finished the season with 22 goals and 60 points and will turn 30 before the next training camp begins. Tatar will be 30 when he is eligible for free agency.

Nyquist signed a four-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1 with a $5.5 million cap hit. Assuming Tatar maintains his pace of 25 or so goals to go with 55ish points, I would expect him to sign a similar deal in 2021. With the cap going up a bit his ask will likely go up along with it.

Tatar would be looking for a four-year contract with a cap hit of $6 million, which is just a $700,000 raise on his current deal.

Home/Analysis