With the clock ticking on an arbitrator’s decision, the Detroit Red Wings and Tomas Tatar reached their own accord first.
The deal is worth four years with an annual average value of $5.3 million. That’s the amount Tatar’s side had asked for during a 4-hour hearing Thursday in Toronto. The Wings offered $4.1 million. Sides can continue to talk through arbitration, until an arbitrator makes an announcement. That comes within 48 hours of the hearing.
Tatar is coming off a 25-goal season, and three straight 20-goal seasons. The money is a fair bit more than Gustav Nyquist’s $4.