We're well over a month into the NHL's free agent period and there are still a few quality players out there without contracts for the upcoming season.
Besides the obvious examples of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews who are both nursing injuries/illness, there are still a few other name players out there. Josh Bailey, Tomas Tatar, Jesse Puljujarvi and Zack Kassian are all still out there and ready to be signed by any team willing to take a chance on them.
Take Kane out of the equation and Tatar is the highest scoring remaining free agent on the open market. It's crazy to me that we're halfway through the offseason and he still doesn't have a deal for next season.
In his native Slovakia this past week to accept the country's 'Player of the Year' award, Tatar shed some light on his situation and said that he hopes to have a contract in short order.
From Sport.SK, translated from Slovakian to English:
"A lot of people asked me two years ago why I was going to the Devils. We made a lot of progress during the season. The NHL is such a balanced competition that the details really decide in it. The potential in the team was there, I saw that it could be something special and it turned out to be the right move in the end.
The situation is somewhat different now. I'm a bit older. We'll see, I'm trying to be very careful in my selection, because I want to achieve something in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup would be wonderful. I try to think about many things when choosing a club and I hope that we will put it together as soon as possible,"
The last two days it has really moved after being stagnant for a while. I communicated directly with the coaches of the teams I could go to, what my role would be on the team. But I don't want to promise when it will be finally resolved.
The situation with the salary cap is not easy, I'm sorry that I was the one who jumped on it. But I won't complain about it. I may have to wait longer for some teams because of the changes they will have to make to make room for me. But I'm already pushing it so that it happens as soon as possible."
"It's been more teams since the beginning. There were many interested parties, which reassured me. The problem was more in the agreement. Whether it was about the length of the contract or the amount, we always fought with someone. The last few days I put some things aside and tried to look at teams where I would feel the best and it would make the most sense. Maybe that's why it moved in the right direction."
"I wanted at least two years again. Even if something didn't work the first year, it could then start to get better in the second year, just like it did with the Devils. If I had left there after the first year, I would have been disappointed, but I stayed a year longer and today I say with a smile that the Devils as an organization are definitely among the good ones.
I gained great leadership experience there and I will remember it fondly. That's why I'm trying to be very careful and today it's headed for a one-year contract because of the salary cap space."
- Tomas Tatar
Okay, there's a lot to digest there...
It looks to me like Tatar received offers early in free agency, but because no one would offer him more than a one year term he got cold feet. He decided to wait things out... but he's still waiting.
