We’re exactly a month away from when NHL contracts running through the 2023-24 season will expiredetroit red wings vs carolina hurricanes. Free agency will start one day later, on July 1. For franchises like the Toronto Maple Leafs, who suffered an early postseason exit, the next month will be crucial.
Whatever happens on July 1, no one can predict. But the Leafs need to do as much work as possible before reaching that date so they know who they want to pursue and bring to Toronto next season.
The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel noted an interesting detail on a May 29 report that could have revealed one of the Leafs’ main targets at the forward position.
“Here’s one thing you should know about Tyler Toffoli,” Siegel wrote. “Brad Treliving is a longtime fan. Treliving’s biggest in-season trade as an NHL GM came in Feb. 2022 when he acquired Toffoli from Montreal.”
The former Calgary Flames GM, currently in possession of that job in Toronto, traded for Toffoli ahead of the 2022 trade deadline sending forwards Tyler Pitlick and Emil Heineman, as well as a first-round pick (2022 NHL draft) and a fifth-round pick (2023) the other way.
After completing the trade, Treliving admitted he had been “chasing Tyler Toffoli since my days in Phoenix and his draft year,” per The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (on February 14, 2022).
Siegel mentioned in his column that he could have gone “25 deep” with forwards who could fit well with the Leafs next season. However, he limited the length of his “top” list to an exclusive group of 10 players.
Among them, Siegel ranked Toffoli as the second-best fit for the Leafs. Coincidentally, Toffoli is one of the few upcoming free agents who are a virtual lock to test the market come July 1.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported on May 24, that Toffoli will enter free agency at the start of July.
“It’s time for the goal machine known as Tyler Toffoli to finally get paid,” LeBrun wrote. “And while he enjoyed his time in Winnipeg after the trade this season, he’s headed to market, which is not surprising.”
On the same day as LeBrun’s report emerged, Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta echoed the same information as his fellow NHL insider in a story published on May 24.
“Scoring winger Tyler Toffoli is planning to hit the market as an unrestricted free agent July 1, according to TFP’s David Pagnotta. On Thursday (May 23), Pagnotta reported Toffoli will be moving on from the Winnipeg Jets after joining the club prior to the trade deadline from the New Jersey Devils.”
The Winnipeg Jets acquired Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils ahead of March 8, 2024, in a trade-deadline move. Considering the aforementioned reports, Toffoli was the classic “rental” player for the Jets as he is expected to leave the team in the summer of 2024.edmonton oilers black history month jersey
Siegel described Toffoli’s skill set and game with an interesting word (emphasis mine), writing “Toffoli brings the same grimy elements as (Maple Leafs’ forward Tyler) Bertuzzi.”
However, as Siegel points out in his analysis, there is a wide gap in actual production between Toffoli and Bertuzzi when looking at their careers.
The Jets forward, who has completed a four-year, $17 million contract per CapFriendly, is coming off a 33-goal, 22-assist, 55-point regular season campaign split between Winnipeg and New Jersey. Bertuzzi, on the other hand, scored 43 points for the Leafs this season.
That might look close enough, but Toffoli has scored 115 goals in 287 games since the start of the 2020-21 season compared to Bertuzzi’s 64 goals in 207 games.
Bertuzzi, for context, signed a one-year deal with Toronto in the summer of 2023 and he will enter unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2024, per CapFriendly.
Finally, Siegel brings another interesting entry in Toffoli’s resume that might appeal to Toronto following the appointment of Craig Berube as the new head coach of the organization.
“Toffoli hasn’t produced quite as much in the playoffs — 20 goals in 93 games — but he’s been to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning one with the Kings in 2014,” Siegel wrote.new jersey devils jerseys for sale
Berube and Toffoli share that winning pedigree that Toronto seems to be chasing as they moved on from coach Sheldon Keefe.edmonton oilers custom jersey store
The Leafs are trying to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since they last did in 1967, but for that, they’ll need to start by reaching the conference finals, which is something the franchise hasn’t done since the 2002 postseason.
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