Even after adding Erik Karlsson, the Pittsburgh Penguins might still be active in adding to their team.

General manager Kyle Dubas (named GM a week ago by President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas) said in his media availability yesterday that he “doesn’t expect anything more major” in terms of making more moves. 

But this leaves open the possibility of a “minor” move, if you will. Add to that, Dubas said in early July that defenseman Jeff Petry was a big part of the Penguins’ plan moving forward. However, now, of course, Jeff Petry plays for the Montreal Canadiens. 

Plans change as new opportunities open up. 

One such new opportunity for the Penguins is free agent Tomas Tatar. 

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested that Tatar could be the next target for Pittsburgh to acquire. 

With the Karlsson deal, the Penguins were actually able to clear out nearly three million in cap space. With Jake Guentzel being on Long Term Injured Reserve to start the season, the Penguins find themselves under the salary cap. 

Tomas Tatar would be a solid addition to this Pittsburgh forward core. Coming off a 48 point season with the New Jersey Devils, Tatar has historically been a reliable point producer. 

Tatar is a six-time 40+ point scorer in the NHL, including two 50+ point seasons and a 61 point season in the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season. 

In terms of goals, Tatar has seven 20+ goal seasons under his belt over the course of his 11 NHL seasons. 

He’s fit rather well with a variety of teams across the league, with the only exception being Vegas, where he just never fully found his stride. His struggles in Vegas were partially magnified by the enormous overpay the Golden Knights made to acquire Tatar on their 2018 Stanley Cup Finals run. 

He has good hands and good speed, and maybe most importantly, is durable. He played a full 82 games last season, and the season prior played 76. 

Tatar will turn 33 mid-season, so he is not necessarily a young addition to the ageing Penguins, but he is still very productive even as he enters his 30s. 

Last season in New Jersey, Tatar put up 20 goals and 28 assists for the Devils. The +/- stat is controversial, but Tatar was a +41 last season with the Devils, an evident sign he was doing something right. 

He’s great as a middle-six forward, and could slot in very well on either the second or third line, the latter of which could use some serious help based on some lineup projections. The Penguins lacked secondary scoring last season, and even after all the additions to the forward core this offseason, Tatar would be the biggest upgrade in terms of depth scoring. 

His one big downside is his playoff performance. Tatar had just 1 goal (no assists) in 12 playoff games for the Devils, but unfortunately, this is almost on par with Tatar’s playoff numbers over the years. In 52 total career playoff games, Tatar has just 13 points, and has never had more than 4 points in any playoff run he has been a part of. 

Regardless, Tatar still has plenty left in the tank, and the Penguins could use all the help they can acquire in their lineup.

 Given the Penguins’ cap situation right now, Pittsburgh does have the room to bring him to town. He’ll have to be cheap (definitely way down from the $4.5 million he made in New Jersey last season), but with him still unsigned this late into the offseason, his signing price is likely dramatically reduced. 

It seems like a great match for both player and team, and Dubas might see Tatar as the final piece in a pretty substantial offseason for the Penguins.