from Jared Clinton of The Hockey News,

Six games into the season, Tatar had already matched his output from his time in Vegas. By the 20th game, he was a near point per game player. Come mid-season, he had cracked the 30-point plateau. And Tuesday night in Montreal, Tatar put the cherry on top of what has been an excellent comeback campaign, slotting home two goals and picking up an assist to set a new career-high with 57 points on the campaign. He’s been a fixture of Montreal’s top six, ranks second in scoring in Montreal behind only Max Domi and his 68-point output and if Tatar continues to score as he has throughout the campaign, he’s primed to end this season by eclipsing the 60-point plateau for the first time in his six full seasons in the NHL.

More impressive about Tatar’s offensive production, however, is that when measured against the player for whom he was made a throw-in, Pacioretty, the Canadiens’ winger comes out ahead. Say what you will for small samples or single-season outputs, but the 2018-19 stat sheet has Tatar in front by three goals (25-22), 15 assists (32-17) and 18 points (57-39). When adjusted for per-game measures – worthwhile given Tatar has played 75 games to Pacioretty’s 61 contests – Tatar still holds the edge in assists (.43-.28) and points (.76-.64), while Pacioretty only narrowly inches ahead in goals (.36-.33).

Tatar has exceeded expectations aside from his statistical output, too. On a Canadiens’ club that plays Claude Julien’s possession game to near perfection and boasts among the best 5-on-5 underlying numbers of any team in the NHL, Tatar has excelled as a play-driving forward.

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