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Vegas Golden Knights Inaugural Season Final Grades: Tomas Tatar

By Richard Cardinale

WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 14: Tomas Tatar #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Winnipeg Jets in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 14, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 14: Tomas Tatar #90 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Winnipeg Jets in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 14, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Tomas Tatar didn’t produce a ton of scoring since joining the Vegas Golden Knights midseason.

Fans, media and everyone else in between set expectations low for the Vegas Golden Knights. In 2017-18. However, the team and coaching staff had different ideas and turned the tables on the entire NHL. The Golden Knights went out and proved everyone wrong in their very first campaign.

Just about every single player on the Golden Knights roster went above and beyond expectations. Every player bought into Gerard Gallant’s fast transition style of play, and it worked to near perfection. On VegasHockeyKnight.com, we will go over each player with an in-depth analysis and give them a grade based upon their performance during the Golden Knights inaugural season.

Today we talk about a player that fans weren’t too fond of. Tomas Tatar came in midseason to give added scoring punch to the Golden Knights forward group. Did he achieve his goal? Let’s take a look at the year the Ilava, Czechoslovakia native had in a Golden Knights uniform.

The Golden Knights brought in Tatar right before the 2018 NHL trade deadline. General manager George McPhee dealt three draft picks to the Detroit Red Wings for the talented winger. McPhee saw an opportunity to add to his team at the deadline, and he took it by adding the 27-year old.

In 62 games with the Red Wings, he notched 16 goals, 12 assists, and 28 points. Not overly impressive, but the thought was to have Tatar slide into a second or third line role with Vegas. However, production nearly stayed the same when he joined the Golden Knights.

In 16 regular season games with Vegas, he totaled just four goals, two assists, and six points. Although, we have to give Tatar somewhat of a pass. We have to remember he didn’t get into a full camp under head coach Gerard Gallant.

It was the same old song and dance in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs for Tatar. In eight total postseason games, Tatar scored one goal, one assist, and two points. Just simply not good enough from a player that was acquired for three draft picks.

Tatar will be under Golden Knights control for three more seasons. So this trade isn’t a total loss just yet for McPhee and Vegas. Not so fast!

With a full training camp under his belt and more familiarity with his teammates, Tomas Tatar will have a much better season in 2018-19 for the Golden Knights. Tatar will effectively be taking over the James Neal/David Perron role for Vegas. Those are big shoes to fill, but it’s not impossible for one of the newest Golden Knights.

Grade: D

Next. Vegas Golden Knights Inaugural Season Final Grades: David Perron. dark

All in all, Tomas Tatar probably deserved worse than the grade he got. However, I gave him the benefit of the doubt behind his half a season with the Vegas Golden Knights. Next season will be a big year for Tatar regarding his future.

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