In his head, Tomas Tatar knew it was a business and that he must be prepared for anything. In his heart, the 26-year-old wanted to remain with the Detroit Red Wings.
"I'm really excited that we found a way to get the deal done," Tatar said during a conference call late Friday afternoon, not long after he had signed a four-year deal with the Red Wings that will pay him an average of $5.3 million annually.
"It was a little stressful and I was not happy that it went all the way (to an arbitrator), but we had a great relationship in arbitration," Tatar said.