With the trade deadline less than 20 days away, there's lots of talk of potential trades. Not mentioned as often as a few others, but certainly his name has been brought up in the last month or so, is Montreal's Tomas Tatar. In the midst of his sixth straight 20-plus goal season, Tatar isn't at elite status. He is, however, a very good player who's been extremely consistent in the NHL since his first full season, the only one with fewer than 20 goals. 19 is still pretty good, though. In his latest 31 thoughts, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman says at least two teams have taken a good look at acquiring the 28-year-old winger.
Friedman writes: "I think the Oilers have, at the very least, looked into Tomas Tatar. (Pittsburgh would be another team with interest.) GM Ken Holland knows him very well."
However, Friedman adds he isn't sure the Canadiens are looking to deal Tatar.
"Again, though, Montreal feels injuries derailed its season and wants to be competitive in 2020-21. So you've really got to move the needle to get the Canadiens' attention."
Tatar wouldn't exactly be a rental player. He has one year left on his contract following this season. For a player as consistent as he is, he does come at a nice price. While he's earning $5.3 million this season and next, Vegas agreed to retain salary when he was initially traded to the Habs in the Max Pacioretty deal in September of 2018. His actual cap hit for the Habs comes in at $4.8 million. It's a nice price for a player with 50 points so far this season, and who is on pace for a career year in that category. His highest was 58 in 2018-19. It's understandable that the Habs may want to hold on to him if the thinking is that their issues this season were caused mostly by injuries. It keeps a good player at a great cost in hopes that the team could be healthier next season.
As for what it will take to "move the needle", there was no elaboration from Friedman on that. There has been talk that teammate Ilya Kovalchuk could fetch as high as a second round pick if Montreal GM Marc Bergevin is willing to part with him. While not as dynamic as Kovalchuk, Tatar could provide a better chance at stability for a potential suitor. All this is somewhat tempered by the fact that for his second 31 Thoughts column in a row, Friedman has referred to the possibility that this could be the slowest NHL trade deadline in years.
Source: 31 Thoughts
