Carlos Monarrez

Detroit Free Press

Surgery. Contract talks. Expansion draft. Trade bait.

There is plenty of professional uncertainty in Tomas Tatar’s near future. But as the Detroit Red Wings’ leading goal-scorer this season cleaned out his locker today , he didn’t seem the least bit worried about any of it.

Tatar, who overcame a slow start and scored 25 goals, is scheduled to have surgery later this week on his shoulder. He was optimistic about his recovery and grateful for the extra healing time he’ll get without a postseason.

“I’ve been battling with it,” said Tatar, who won’t play for Slovakia in next month’s International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship. “Now, we come to the end and it’s just hard to play with it. It’s been bothering me almost every game, so this way I don’t think it’s a big-of-a-deal surgery.

“It’s pretty simple and now I think is the time. We have a longer period of days off now because you’re not in the playoffs. So I think it’s a good time to get it done and be ready for next season.”

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Tatar is a restricted free agent, but he’s optimistic about signing a new contract with the Wings.

“We started talking for a little and so far he haven’t talked about much,” he said. “But I don’t see a problem.”

There’s also the chance Tatar could be left unprotected for the expansion draft this summer for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Or he could be traded. Tatar seemed unfazed by these possibilities.

“It feels like home to me (in Detroit), but I’m not afraid of change,” he said. “I know it’s a business and if Ken (Holland) would like some deal offer and he thinks he can help the team this way, it obviously can happen. Like I said, I would just respect it.”

It’s almost hard to see the Wings not finding a way to keep Tatar, who overcame scoring just three goals the first two months of the season but closed strong with nine goals in the final six weeks.

While discussing his team’s cold start, coach Jeff Blashill noted that Tatar’s 25 goals were the second-most of his career and that he eventually made the most of his ice time and opportunities.

“Tats was cold early but it wasn’t from a lack of getting chances,” Blashill said. “Sometimes, if you’re a goal-scorer you’re going to go through stretches where they don’t go in and he went through stretches where they didn’t go in.”

Tatar seemed pleased that he finished the season on a high note.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “It would be hard if you finished poor just to get the confidence for next season. So I’m happy I found a way to put the puck in and obviously it feels good.

“It would feel better if we were in the playoffs and we could still play, but you can take some positives for sure from the end of the season.”

Abby's road: Justin Abdelkader will need arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Abdelkader said he’s had a lingering injury. He missed 18 games this season and finished with seven goals and 21 points in 64 games.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Helene St. James contributed to this report.