The first big deal of the 2022 trade season has occurred as the Montreal Canadiens have traded winger Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the 2022 protected first-round pick, a 2024 fifth-round pick, forward Tyler Pitlick, and prospect Emil Heineman.
Toffoli is a huge addition for the Calgary Flames in their push for the Stanley Cup. The Flames currently sit 8th in the league (based on point percentage) 1 point out for the top spot in the Pacific Division. A big issue for the Flames all season is the lack of depth scoring with the trio of Johnn Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm carrying them offensively. The acquisition of Toffoli will certainly help them in that regard.
Toffoli is in the second season of a four-year $17 million contract he signed with the Canadiens back in 2020. Last season, Toffoli had a career year with 28 goals and 44 points in 52 games en route to the Canadiens final appearance. This year, he has slowed down a bit in production with only 9 goals and 26 points in 37 games but a large part of that has to do with the Canadiens team struggles all season. Toffoli will sit perfectly on the 2nd line with Andrew Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund.
Now diving into the deal from the Montreal Canadiens perspective, they were expected to be big sellers at this year’s deadline. After their Stanley Cup run last season, they completely fell off and now sit last place in the league. In return for Toffoli, they acquire a pretty solid haul that will help their rebuild. A top 10 protected 2022 first-round pick, giving the Canadiens two first-round picks in this year’s draft. Along with the pick, they receive Emil Heineman who the Flames acquired last year from the Florida Panthers. According to reports, the Canadiens were extremely interested in Heineman who is having a respectable year in the SHL. The last part of the deal is Tyler Pitlick who is actually cousins with Canadiens forwards Rem Pitlick and Rhett Pitlick.
Overall, this is a fair trade with both teams accomplishing their goals. The Calgary Flames acquire a top-6 winger they desperately needed while the Montreal Canadiens going for a rebuild. However, the slight edge goes to the Calgary Flames due to the great value of Toffoli’s contract and the fact that they could have gotten more for Toffoli.
