BREAKING: Red Wings trade forward Tomas Tatar

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The Detroit Red Wings have made their first and apparently only trade of the 2018 Trade Deadline, sending winger Tomas Tatar to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

http://gty.im/897866138

https://twitter.com/GMillerTSN/status/968216663052177408

In exchange, the Golden Knights sent a first, second, and third round draft pick to the Red Wings. He’s in the first year of a four-year, $21.2 million extension he signed with Detroit in the summer of 2017. His annual cap hit is $5.3 million, and the Red Wings didn’t retain any of his salary.

So far this season, he’s scored 16 goals and 12 assists. 

Tatar was drafted 60th overall by the Red Wings in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, their AHL affiliate after signing a three year entry level deal. He made his NHL debut for the Red Wings during the 2010-11 NHL season, scoring his first goal on New Years Eve against the New York Islanders.

In his first full NHL season, Tatar burst onto the scene, scoring 19 goals and 39 points.

After signing a three-year extension with the Red Wings, Tatar’s offensive abilities began to become more apparent. He scored a career high 29 goals during the 2014-15 NHL Season as the Red Wings bowed out in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He saw his goal output drop the next season to 21, but rebounded with 25 during 2016-17.

Internationally, Tatar has represented Slovakia at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, the IIHF World Championship, and the Olympics.

The Red Wings had already traded goaltender Petr Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers last week in exchange for conditional draft picks depending on his performance with the Flyers moving forward. He’s a free agent at the end of the season.

The Vegas Golden Knights are one of the surprises of this year’s NHL campaign, with the NHL’s leading record and having already broken the record for best expansion record in any of the four major sports.