Former Red Wing Tomas Tatar traded back into the division

Hockey fans everywhere waited for one of the big trade pieces to move all summer, and on September 10th at 1:00 am, one of them finally moved.

The Habs finally traded their captain after a long and grueling, unmoving summer.

Max Pacioretty has joined the Vegas Golden Knights. Maybe George McPhee is hoping for their sophomore season to not be a total disaster like most people are predicting.

At the 2018 Trade Deadline, the Golden Knights paid a 2018 1st, 2019 2nd, and a 2021 3rd-round pick, for the services of Tomas Tatar. The other player going to Montreal is young center Nick Suzuki, who was just drafted 13th-overall in 2017.

So I suppose this trade could be seen as two 1sts, two 2nds, and a 3rd – for Max Pacioretty. Pretty expensive for a team most people still aren’t confident will make the playoffs in 2019.

From Tatar’s performance with the Golden Knights, it’s easy to assume that Vegas management decided to already take the loss with their trade with the Red Wings. Giving him up in a trade for a much better winger, but having to include one of their top prospects, is a tough pill to swallow for Vegas.

Tatar played eleven years in the Red Wings’ system, his most impressive year coming in the 2014-15 season. That season he scored 29 goals and 56 points, to be third in scoring just behind Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.

It’s going to be difficult for some to see Tatar in a Habs sweater, but let’s hope he has a pretty good season in Montreal. It would help us get a better draft pick after all.