Tomas Tater is getting a huge opportunity Saturday night against the Rangers. He will skate on one of the Red Wings' top lines alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Tatar's got a pretty good shot and with the clever Zetterberg making plays, he could have some success. If you need a forward Saturday night, you may want to take a chance on Tatar.

Tomas Tatar got back in Detroit's lineup Monday night in a 1-0 shootout loss to San Jose. He hadn't played since making his season debut on Oct. 5, but he may have earned himself some more game action. "I thought he was really good," coach Mike Babcock said. "He was effective for us, he was on the puck, he was strong on the puck, he played way quicker than he did his last time. I thought he was effective." Tatar skated on the third line with Stephen Weiss and Daniel Cleary.

Tomas Tatar will make his season debut Saturday night. Mikael Samuelsson has been scratched from the lineup against the Bruins. Tatar had a solid training camp, and he posted four goals and seven points last season in 18 NHL games. He's past being an AHL player.

Tomas Tatar will probably make his 2013-14 debut Saturday night against Boston. Coach Mike Babcock is mulling over the idea of making lineup changes and Tatar is his only extra forward. At one point, Babcock said that Tatar "is in tonight," but shortly after he stated that a decision hadn't been finalized. Detroit doesn't have any health issues up front, so it's unclear who will draw out if Tatar does end up playing.

Tomas Tatar scored twice but the Red Wings fell 4-3 to the Blackhawks in an exhibition affair Sunday. The 22-year-old now has three goals in the preseason and could be a sneaky-good late grab in fantasy leagues. Detroit typically takes its time with its prospects; Tatar was a three-time 23-plus goal scorer in the AHL and had four goals and seven points in his 18-game NHL stint last year. The Blackhawks' Byron Froese also had two goals, with Garret Ross and Joakim Nordstrom notching the others. Jonathan Ericsson was the other goal scorer for Detroit, while Gustav Nyquist assisted on each goal. In net, Corey Crawford made 30 saves in a full slate, with Jimmy Howard setting aside 16 of 20 in just over two periods.

Winger Tomas Tatar scored a goal and added an assist for the Red Wings in a 4-1 preseason victory over Pittsburgh Monday. Tatar opened the scoring in the first period and later assisted on the first two markers by Adam Alquist. Pavel Datsyuk also found the back of the net for Detroit, while the goaltending duties were split between Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek. The lone Pittsburgh goal was recorded by Brandon Sutter while Tomas Vokoun allowed four goals on 15 shots over two periods of work and Eric Hartzell blocked all four shots he faced in the third frame.

Tomas Tatar has a future with the Detroit Red Wings, according to GM Ken Holland and coach Mike Babcock. "Tats is going to be on the team," GM Ken Holland said. "He's a good player. He plays hard, he competes hard. He played 18 games for us last year, had four goals. That's a 16- to 18-goal pace playing on the third line and not getting much specialty teams. That's a lot of goals." As long as something disastrous doesn't happen at camp it sounds like Tatar will start on Detroit's roster. There was some speculation that he could be traded since Detroit doesn't have many openings up front and they are currently over the salary cap. Tatar also can't be sent down to the minors without passing through waivers. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press sees the Wings playing Tatar in some games and sitting him out in others, so in a situation like that he probably won't be able to make much of a fantasy impact. However, he should be able to play his way into the team's top-six group in a couple of years.

Tomas Tatar can't be sent down to the minors without clearing waivers first. He may find it tough to make Detroit's roster because the signing of Daniel Cleary seized another potential spot and it filled more space on the team's salary cap. Tatar opened camp with probable AHLers Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco, so was already figured to be an odd-man out. Tatar may have to prove he can serve as a role player if he stands a chance at opening the year in the NHL with the Wings. If the Wings don't want to risk losing him for nothing on waivers then he could attempt to trade his rights elsewhere.

Detroit's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, have won the Calder Cup. Tomas Tatar was selected as the AHL playoff MVP after scoring 16 goals and 21 points in 24 contests. He found the back of the net twice in the Griffins' Cup-winning game on Tuesday.

Tomas Tatar leads AHL Grand Rapids in playoff scoring with 10 goals and 15 points in 17 games. The Griffins and Oklahoma City will play in Game 7 on Wednesday night and a spot in the Calder Cup Finals is on the line. Tatar, who skated in 18 games with Detroit this season, has appreciated the arrival of Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson following the Wings' elimination from the postseason. "The big difference is that (other teams) have to be careful about those two," Tatar said.