This headline should come as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention to the end of season media availability back in early May when Tyler Toffoli was asked to share insight into how he is approaching his future as he is scheduled to become a free agent on July 1st. He indicated:
“It’s one of those things were I feel like I’ve worked my way to an opportunity to see what’s next and whatever happens, happens. It’s one of those things you take day-by-day and obviously things kinda happened much quicker than I would have liked. We’ll see kinda what happens, you know, in the future here.”
In 18 games after he was acquired by Winnipeg from New Jersey at the March 9th Trade Deadline he had seven goals and four assists for 11 points. He also scored twice in five playoff games for the Jets. But it just didn’t seem like he was a fit for the style of game the NHL club of Manitoba was employing.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
In an article on The Athletic on Friday Pierre LeBrun wrote about the NHL free agent market and one of the players he touched on was Toffoli indicating:
“It’s time for the goal machine known as Tyler Toffoli to finally get paid……….and while he enjoyed his time in Winnipeg after the trade this season, he’s headed to market, which is not surprising….”
Given Toffoli was in the final season of a four-year, $17 million contract ($4.25 million AAV) me thinks he got paid just fine but the fact is that he’s 32 years old and likely looking for a long-term deal. 30+ goals back-to-back seasons should earn the Scarborough, Ontario product a big contract. Lebrun speculated the Preds could be a match.
The Jets dealt a third-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025 to the Devils for Toffoli.
