Vegas Golden Knights get: LW Tomas Tatar
Detroit Red Wings get: 2018 first-round pick, 2019 second-round pick, 2021 third-round pick
Follow all the trade deadline action here.
Click here for all of the trade grades ahead of the 2017-18 deadline.
Detroit Red Wings: A
The Red Wings had a few reportedly available players on their roster, including Mike Green and Gustav Nyquist, but the only player that ended up going was Tatar.
He's 27, and has three years left on his deal at $5.3 million per season, which could entice some teams while turning others off. Detroit found a good trade partner in Vegas, which has a ton of cap space (and no bad contracts to skirt around). The draft picks are spaced out from this year to 2021, and it's an important caveat that the first-round pick in 2018 will likely be a low one, as the Golden Knights are very much in contention for the President's Trophy this season.
However, that is quite the haul for what's probably a third-line player. Detroit was also selling low, considering Tatar's points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 has gone down big time this season compared to last, from 1.85 to 1.01, while averaging essentially the same ice time.
Overall, we can't really find anything bad to say about this deal. The only thing we can criticize the Red Wings for is for not moving Green and Nyquist as well.
Vegas Golden Knights: B-
We really wanted Vegas to make a move and go all-in -- the Golden Knights are built to win now, so why not double down on what could be a magical playoff run?
A stud defenseman would have been ideal -- and the Golden Knights were reportedly aggressive on Erik Karlsson -- but depth scoring never hurts. Tatar likely slides onto Vegas' third line.
While Tatar's stats are down this season (see above), he has been a very productive player for Detroit. He has 91 goals during the past four seasons -- 19 more than any other Red Wing over that stretch. He's skilled, and could pop a bit in a new situation with Vegas.
For a team that could lose veterans like James Neal and David Perron in free agency, and has players like William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault having career years -- and it's unclear if they will maintain this pace -- the Tatar addition gives them veteran certainty going forward. The salary isn't a concern either, as Vegas has a decent amount of projected salary cap space ($7.8 million).
However, the Knights gave up a lot. Vegas doesn't have a prospect pool, so it should be conserving picks for the long run. Giving up three high picks -- including a first-rounder this summer -- is a gamble. It's like George McPhee shoving a fourth of his chips on the table.