Tomas Tatar expected worse.



The horror stories that accompany a player and his team going to arbitration are well-documented. There’s a reason the Red Wings had never done it until Thursday during Ken Holland’s tenure as general manager. It’s not good for employee relations. It’s better to give in to that extra $200,000 per season and avoid it.



But that wiggle room is gone from the Detroit salary structure.



So Tatar and his agent Ritch Winter flew to Toronto to meet with the Red Wings and see about arbitration. And it wasn’t so bad.



The group – both sides – went out to a nice Italian dinner on Wednesday night to see if there was a deal to be made and keep the conversation going. By all accounts, it was a cordial discussion, the first sign this might not be as difficult as advertised. There were more talks Thursday morning over coffee, serious enough that the start of the arbitration was delayed. That’s...