These are the top 10 goal-scorers in the National Hockey League: Rick Nash, Alex Ovechkin, Tyler Seguin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Steven Stamkos, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Kane, John Tavares, Max Pacioretty and …

Tomas Tatar, a 5-foot-10, 24-year-old forward in his second full season with the Detroit Red Wings after four seasons in the minors.

Tatar has 23 goals, tied with Corey Perry, ahead of 808 others. He has the best possession numbers in the league among players who have appeared in at least 20 games. When he has been on the ice, the Wings have controlled 59.2 percent of the shot attempts.

Once again the Wings drafted a skilled player, stashed him away, let him develop and made him earn an NHL job. Along with other younger players – Gustav Nyquist in particular – Tatar seized an opportunity last season when the Wings ran into injury trouble and helped them make the playoffs for the 23rd straight time.

View photos Tatar seized a job in Detroit last season when the Wings were reeling with injuries. (USA Today) More

Now Tatar is a key member of a team with the fourth-best points percentage in the league. He has seven goals and 12 points in the last 10 games; the Wings have gone 9-1-0. He showed what he could do Saturday night in a 3-1 victory over Arizona. As the Coyotes tried to clear their zone, he batted the puck out of the air inside the blue line, creating a turnover, leading to a goal. He scored with a wicked shot on a 2-on-1. Protecting a late lead, he cleared the Wings’ zone and set up an empty-netter.

The best part for the Wings? Tatar still has room to grow.

“His peak years are probably going to be when he’s 27, 28, 29,” said Wings general manager Ken Holland. “So he’s still three, four, five years away from the peak of what he’s going to be as a player.”

You can say scorers are supposed to peak earlier than that; they are. You can point to Tatar’s 16.9-percent shooting percentage and say this is unsustainable; he is hot, no doubt. You can point to how he’s playing with Pavel Datsyuk, one of the best two-way centermen in hockey; that sure can boost a guy’s goal totals and possession numbers.

But look at the Wings’ track record, and know Holland was talking about Tatar scoring goals in the NHL long before he did. As much as Datsyuk has helped Tatar, there is a reason Tatar has been a good fit for Datsyuk, too. Datsyuk is an incredibly creative, pass-first player. Tatar is a smart, shoot-first player whose talent has been nurtured.

“He’s thinking, ‘Score,’ ” Holland said. “Tats has a goal-scoring mentality at a young age that not a lot of people have, or if they do have it, sometimes it gets snuffed out along the way for a variety of reasons.”

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The Red Wings have become famous for finding players, keeping them in the minors or overseas, then watching them make an impact in the NHL. It has been part necessity, part luxury and part philosophy.

Because of their success, the Wings haven’t had high picks, so they have had to draft players with more flaws who need more time to develop. They haven’t been afraid of undersized guys as long as those guys have been skilled and competitive.

But because of their success, the Wings haven’t had to rush their prospects, either. They have been able to give them the time they need to develop – physically, mentally and emotionally – without the spotlight and scrutiny of the NHL.

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