Slovak forward Tomáš Tatar, 34, has signed a two-year contract in Switzerland with EV Zug, the National League club announced on Tuesday.
“With his enormous experience from almost 1000 NHL games and his game intelligence, he is an important reinforcement for us at center,” said Zug GM Reto Kläy. “In recent years, Tomáš has regularly played on the wing. With us, he will be used as a center.”
Back in early April, Kläy admitted to Swiss media that Tatar was one of the players he planned to pursue this off-season, along with Czech winger Dominik Kubalík. Kubalík signed with Zug a few weeks ago and Kläy emphasized that he will stay on the wing, raising the possibility of him playing together with Tatar on the team’s top line.
The news comes a day after Swedish defenseman Erik Brännström signed a three-year deal with National League rival Lausanne HC.
Erik Brännström Signs Multi-Year Deal In Switzerland
Swedish defenseman Erik Brännström, 25, has signed a three-year
contract with Lausanne HC, the National League club announced on
Monday.
Tatar was a second-round pick, 60th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in 2009. He immediately went overseas to play in the AHL and has played in North America ever since.
Tatar has 227 goals and 269 assists for 496 points in 977 NHL regular-season games with the Red Wings, Vegas Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken. He also had 13 points in 56 playoff games.
This past season, he had 17 points in 74 games in his second tour of duty with New Jersey.
Dominik Kubalík Finds New Swiss ClubCzech
winger Dominik Kubalík,
29,
has signed a two-year contract with EV Zug,
the National League club announced on Friday.
Internationally, Tatar has represented Slovakia at seven IIHF World Championships and at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He didn’t play for Slovakia at the Worlds this year, but he has stated his desire to play at the 2026 Olympics.
Always one of Switzerland’s big-spending clubs, Zug won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022 but results have been disappointing since. And Kläy clearly wants to change that.
In addition to Tatar and Kubalík, Zug has under contract for 2025-26 World Championship MVP goalie Leonardo Genoni, defensemen Raphael Díaz and Gabriel Carlsson and forwards Grégory Hofmann and Fabrice Herzog.
Photo © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images: Tomáš Tatar playing for the New Jersey Devils in 2024-25.
Tomáš Tatar “absolutely” wants to play in Milan 2026 OlympicsTomáš Tatar’s first World Championship was in 2012 and he won a silver medal with the Slovak team. This year was his fifth and second as team captain, but the 33-year-old winger is still searching for his second medal. Slovakia’s tournament came to an end on Thursday with a 6-3 quarterfinal loss to Canada.