The best remaining free agent on the market is no longer available. The Colorado Avalanche swooped in and signed Tomas Tatar to a one-year deal for a 1.5M AAV. This was a great opportunity for any team looking for depth scoring. The Penguins would have benefited quite a bit from getting Tatar at this price point. It is great value.

Tomas Tatar is a Colorado Avalanche because he does all of the small things pic.twitter.com/M5rDb77b6G

— Evolving-Hockey (@EvolvingHockey) September 12, 2023

Finally! Tomas Tatar has signed a one-year, $1.5M deal with the Colorado Avalanche. This is a TOP3 signing this off-season in our eyes. Tatar is still legit two-way TOP6 winger. This is great signing by Colorado! pic.twitter.com/yqRAlhWLAN

— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) September 12, 2023

I think it is a missed opportunity for the Penguins who had a very specific need for what Tatar does. I’m not surprised a team like Colorado scooped him up.

The argument can be made that Tatar wasn’t willing to sign with the Penguins because he doesn’t perceive them to be as close to being a Cup contender. It would be sound logic by him because they Avalanche are way closer. Where I land on this is the Penguins should have been proactive way earlier in the process and offered him 2-2.5M and offer a one year deal or a little bit of term if he was open to it. Tatar would have been way higher on my list of priorities than spending on Lars Eller or Noel Acciari.

This offseason has gone well for Pittsburgh. Dubas has made a lot of improvements to the team. Tatar would have been the cherry on top of the sweeping changes. It wasn’t to be.

Thanks for reading!

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