Kraken acquire winger Tomáš Tatar from Avalanche for fifth-round pick
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 13: Tomas Tatar #90 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Seattle Kraken during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena on November 13, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Kraken have acquired winger Tomáš Tatar in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round draft pick.
Tatar, 33, has appeared in 27 games for the Avalanche this season with a goal and eight assists. He's coming off a year with the New Jersey Devils where he had 20 goals and 28 assists before signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with Colorado this summer.
Tatar has appeared in 810 career NHL games with the Avalanche, Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings. He becomes the second-most experienced player on the Kraken's roster behind the 968 games played by forward Jordan Eberle.
For his career, Tatar has 464 points on 212 goals and 252 assists. He's scored at least 20 goals in a season seven times in his 11-year career. After averaging 15 minutes of ice time a game the last two years with New Jersey, Tatar was averaging just over 11 minutes a game in Colorado as he seemingly struggled to find a fit with the Avalanche.
The impending acquisition of Tatar is almost certainly the reason for some of the Kraken's salary cap juggling earlier in the day. Forward Jaden Schwartz was placed on long-term injured reserve with Shane Wright called up from AHL Coachella Valley and winger Tye Kartye reassigned to Coachella Valley to help maximize salary cap space.
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Kraken place forward Jaden Schwartz on long-term injured reserve
The Seattle Kraken made a trio of roster moves on Friday that included placing veteran winger Jaden Schwartz on long-term injured reserve.
Schwartz has already missed seven games for the Kraken after suffering an upper-body injury in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on November 28. Schwartz is expected to miss approximately six weeks due to the injury.
A player can be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) if he is going to miss at least 10 games and 24 days of time due to injury. By using LTIR, NHL teams can operate in excess of the salary cap. The amount of relief they receive depends on how close to the salary cap limit the team is before placing a player on LTIR.
Wright's contract is about $60,000 more expensive than Kartye's contract, which allowed Seattle to get closer to the cap limit before making the move with Schwartz.
The cap relief the Kraken were able to generate through the move of Schwartz to LTIR, helped the team complete the deal to acquire Tatar.