NHL Free Agency: Top 5 Free Agents still on the board after Day One

3. Tomas Tatar

One of the most intriguing players left on the board after Day One of NHL Free Agency was forward Tomas Tatar, who has been incredibly productive for the Montreal Canadiens for the past few years.

After a short and not very sweet stint in Vegas with the Golden Knights, Tatar proved to be a potent weapon for the Habs with back-to-back seasons of 50 or more points, including a 61 point season (22 G, 39 A) in 2019-20.

Granted, the 30-year-old’s production did dip in 2020-21 with 30 points (10 G, 20 A) in 50 games, but it was a shortened season and his ice time did drop to an average of 14:59 minutes per night, so 30 points was still a nice return.

What is important to remember when it comes to Tatar is that he’s elite at 5-on-5, ranking 22nd among all NHL forwards for five-on-five points with 108 over the last three seasons, joining some pretty hallowed company like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Aleksander Barkov on that list.

Granted, Tatar has developed a habit of going cold in the postseason as he had just one point in five games for the Habs during their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020-21, and it was a similar story for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18.

However, that aside, Tatar is an elite play driver, he’s lethal at even-strength and he could be a productive top-six forward for most teams in the NHL for at least the next three or four seasons, and teams like the Seattle Kraken may benefit from signing the left-wing, especially if they can figure out a way for the veteran to get hot in the Playoffs again.