Tatar hints arbitration contract would be his last deal with Red Wings
Tomas Tatar clearly isn't interested in signing a one-year deal.
The Detroit Red Wings forward, who filed for salary arbitration earlier this week, says if it gets to that point, it would likely be the last contract he signs with the club.
Tatar provided some insight into his ongoing negotiations to Slovakian publication Novy Cas on Saturday. Here's an excerpt, as translated by Kukla's Korner, which later appeared in The Detroit News and The Athletic Detroit:
The Slovak forward, who had a shoulder operation in the middle of April, has been training for the new season for several weeks. "I'm already starting to work out the upper part of my body, but it's going to take a while until I'm 100 percent fit," Tatar said, and he and his agent, (Ritch) Winter, have been working on a new contract for some time now. "Detroit offered me a contract, and even with a few options - for a year, or four or five. We're still talking about the length, and of course, the financial amount of the contract. However, we aren't going anywhere, and there's been time enough," Tatar told (Novy) Cas, who may be headed to an arbitration court.
"Arbitration is the last option, I have to sign off, it's just a mandatory contract. Unless I agree with Detroit, I'll go to the court, where they'll give me a year's contract. That would probably be my last season in Detroit. We'll see in a few days or weeks before it all comes together," said Tatar.
Red Wings general manager Ken Holland didn't want to add any fuel to the fire when asked about Tatar's comments Saturday.
"I don't have any comment other than I've talked to Ritch Winter a number of times," Holland told The Athletic Detroit's Craig Custance. "If that's the way Tats feels, that's the way Tats feels."
Tatar's hearing is scheduled for July 20, the first day of the NHL's arbitration proceedings.
The restricted free-agent winger was among 30 players to file before Wednesday's deadline.
He led the Red Wings with 25 goals in the final season of a three-year, $8.25-million contract he signed with Detroit in the summer of 2014.
Tatar has played parts of six NHL seasons with the Red Wings, who selected him in the second round of the 2009 draft.
Of the 25 players who filed for arbitration last year, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie was the only one who required a hearing, and the two sides agreed to a four-year deal before the arbitrator announced the verdict.