Avalanche sign Tomas Tatar to one-year, $1.5 million contract

One of the top remaining free-agent forwards is finally off the market shortly before NHL training camps open. Left winger Tomas Tatar has signed a one-year, $1.5-million contract with the Colorado Avalanche, as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The news comes after it was reported that Tatar had switched agents.

Tatar, 32, played the previous two seasons with the New Jersey Devils and will be joining his fifth NHL franchise. He has enjoyed a productive 12-season career to date, functioning more often than not as a top-six winger and often grading out as an excellent two-way play driver, even as he exits his prime in his early 30s. 

Last season, he notched 20 goals and 48 points in a middle-six role with the Devils. Tatar has seven 20-goal seasons to his name and has cleared the 50-point mark three times. His peak production came during his time with the Montreal Canadiens between 2018-19 and 2020-21, when he formed one of the NHL’s best all-around lines with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher. Tatar’s career shot attempt share sits at an impressive 56 percent.

The Avalanche have endured catastrophic losses to their forward group in consecutive summers. In 2022, they said goodbye to No. 2 center Nazem Kadri in free agency. This year, they let replacement No. 2 center J.T. Compher walk, not to mention depth forwards Evan Rodrigues and Lars Eller. Captain and first-line left winger Gabriel Landeskog’s knee injury will keep him out for the entire 2023-24 regular season at minimum. 

GM Chris MacFarland has been busy hunting for bargains and bounce backs to fill out his team’s forward group. He traded for center Ryan Johansen, with the Nashville Predators retaining half his $8 million salary and signed left winger Jonathan Drouin, reuniting him with his old QMJHL teammate, Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon. He also added underrated center Ross Colton and locked up left winger Miles Wood on a curious six-year contract. 

With Tatar joining Colorado’s top nine at a reasonable AAV, the team’s depth problem appears to have been remedied.