The Detroit Red Wings weren't supposed to be this good. Or this talented. Or this deep.
But here we are, close to the halfway point of the regular season and the Wings (20-10-9), expected by many to struggle to make the playoffs and facing the question of whether or not head coach Mike Babcock would remain after the year, are sitting at fifth in the Eastern Conference and comfortably holding a playoff spot.
One of the brightest and most unexpected spots for the Wings this supposedly inauspicious season has been forward Tomas Tatar.
Tatar, after a slow start to the season, now has the team lead in goals with 16 and is third in overall scoring, with 26 points.
"What I see is that a he's a guy who loves hockey and loves to score," Babcock said, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. "He's on a journey to become an elite player in the NHL. As long as he keeps working on his details and he's committed to doing it all the time, he's going to get there."
That's just what Tatar seems to be doing, turning himself into one of the hottest commodities in the NHL - a consistent scorer - in the process.
The question for a team that already boasts elder scoring statesmen in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datysuk and continues to seek defensive upgrades, is whether or not Tatar is a major cog for the future, or a piece to be dangled in exchange for more pressing needs.
"Tatar had 19 goals last season, and is well on his way to topping 20 this season. To essentially be a two-time 20-goal scorer at age 24 makes Tatar intriguing as a trade asset," St. James reasons.
"The Wings are eager to add a top-four defenseman who shoots right, and to get someone of quality - like Buffalo's Tyler Myers - it would take a young hotshot. Maybe the Wings can sway the Sabres with Tatar and defenseman Jakub Kindl (who doesn't seem to have a future in Detroit), along with a second-round draft pick."
As St. James notes, Kindl, who signed a four-year, $9.6 million extension with the team in June 2013, has never seemed quite able to get on and stay on Babcock's good side.
With Tatar showing ample promise and Kindl most likely not in the team's long-term plans, flipping the two for a player of Myers' stature - literally and figuratively - that so clearly fills a need, makes almost too much sense not to happen - meaning it probably won't.
