Former Devils Forward Traded to Kraken

It just wasn’t working for Tomas Tatar and the Colorado Avalanche. The former New Jersey Devils forward wasn’t able to find his footing in the Avs lineup and as a result, he’s been traded.

Colorado traded the 33-year-old winger to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round draft pick. The Avalanche were hoping Tatar would provide some depth scoring they lacked last season. However, with just one goal and nine points in 27 games this season, he just wasn’t quite what they were looking for.

Tatar scored his first goal of the season just four days ago against the Calgary Flames, 27 games in.

It’s surprising to see the Tatar experiment in Colorado fail. The Avalanche play a similar fast, offensive style that Tatar produced in over two seasons in New Jersey.

Last season, Tatar scored 20 goals and 48 points mostly deployed on the Devils’ second line alongside Nico Hischier. The Slovakian forward totaled 35 goals and 78 points in 158 career games with the Devils across two seasons.

Now, he’ll try his luck in Seattle where the Kraken have also reportedly been looking for a scorer. Maybe a change in scenery is what he needed.

Tatar is on the books for one season with a $1.5 million cap hit. Ironically, he turned down an offer from the Devils over the summer with the idea that he could secure a better deal elsewhere, but that didn’t happen even after switching agencies.