Earlier today, we covered reports out of Calgary stating that several important Calgary Flames players, namely Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Mikael Backlund, were not planning to sign contract extensions to remain with the team beyond next season. Now, another name can be added to the list of likely-to-depart players: Tyler Toffoli.
DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Toffoli “plans on not re-signing in Calgary,” and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds “Calgary has made [Toffoli] available for trade.”
It’s another significant blow to the Flames’ hopes of Stanley Cup contention in the near future as the Flames are now readying for the possibility of trading their leading scorer from last season. Toffoli, 31, had a stellar 2022-23, setting a career-high of 34 goals and 73 points.
While he missed the postseason, the two-time Stanley Cup champion captained Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships, with his third-period snipe on German netminder Mattias Niederberger effectively clinching the trophy for his country.
But while Toffoli seems to still be in the prime of his career and on a team that won a playoff series just a year ago, these reports indicate that he’s likely to continue his career elsewhere. He’s set to cost $4.25MM against the cap for one more season before hitting unrestricted free agency, and given his exceptional form last season he’d likely be a coveted player on the trade market.
There happens to be a useful comparable to project a potential Toffoli trade this summer: the 2021 deal that sent Toffoli to Calgary. He was coming off of a season where he scored at a 44-goal 69-point pace with the Montreal Canadiens and net his team a first-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and a solid prospect in Emil Heineman.
While Toffoli only has one year of team control left on his contract compared to the two-and-a-half years left on his deal at the time of the last trade, his increased offensive production is likely what will keep his trade value high.
One would imagine Calgary would be looking for a first-round pick as a starting point for any Toffoli trade, though with players such as Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MacKenzie Weegar already signed to long-term deals, it’s also feasible GM Craig Conroy might try to target NHL-ready players in return for Toffoli rather than draft compensation.
In any case, this news adds yet another challenge for Conroy to navigate in his first offseason as Brad Treliving’s successor in Calgary. It definitely isn’t an ideal situation for the franchise to be in, but thanks to Toffoli’s exceptional 2022-23 season the team could very well view trading the player as a valuable opportunity to improve the franchise’s long-term outlook rather than a difficult setback.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Chevy in Winnipeg now has company in trying to navigate thru a giant headache of an off-season.
I’ve heard of “blowing up the team” but this really seems like the team is blowing itself up.
Did Calgary recently start smelling badly after not previously smelling badly or something?
It’s more Winnipeg than Winnipeg at this point.
Why do players hate playing in Calgary? Is ot the city? The coach? Each other? What’s the deal?
Toff for goodrow + picks, no toff extension – add ducks to take 50% of toffs contract for picks.
Toff replaces tarasenko on rangers 1st/2nd for much less than what hes worth.
Calargy gets a good bottom 6, locker room guy and picks to flip.
Nobody wants to play with Hubs and Kadri?
@YzerPlan19 – And to think the outward appearance was nobody really liked Darryl’s backward-facing systems.
Somebody had to take the fall! If you read the athletic he’s a downright horrible human that should never be around people or puppies again!
@YzerPlan19 – He’s definitely not Keenan-bad, but he’s proven to be the coaching equivalent of Trader Pete. He wanted to have a team built on a near-obsolescent model and thought that coaching “offense by accident”, rather than by intent, is still the way to go. Torts, for instance, has been trying to continually adjust to today’s game and player, even though some people think he’s still stuck in his old ways. At least he’s trying, even though there might be more for him to do. Darryl seems to have regressed, and as testified by my polling expert, @Gbear, even the puppies have turned on him.
Send tyler back to LA
The story keeps getting bigger, Does it have anything to do with the head coach hire recently? Were the players hoping to have Mitch Love as the next coach? This is weird.
Maybe some of them liked Sutter? I dunno.
@Gbear – Hey! That’s just downright mean-spirited! :)
I thought everybody wanted out of Calgary because of Sutter but it appears that is not the case. Why do they still all want to leave?
This.
Honest question: Why? What’s going on in Calgary? Not a fan of conspiracy theories but there are way too many players wanting out at the same time for no obvious reasons.
This is probably pure coincidence, but they did just re-elect the United Conservative Party in Alberta despite strong gains from the centre-left New Democrats, and Calgary was the difference maker in that election.
… Or maybe I just have too much poltics on the brain.
The extre majority of Hockey players in general are conservative
And you know this to be true?
Blowing this up is a ton of talent. Should be a fun draft for them.