For the first time in what feels like years, the Winnipeg Jets are going all in at the NHL trade deadline. After a successful season so far, Winnipeg decided to bolster their offensive core by acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils for a 2025 second-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round pick. As part of the deal, New Jersey will retain 50 percent of Toffoli’s contract sp everything fits under the cap.
In many ways, Toffoli is one of the more interesting players in the NHL. He is, inarguably, a fantastic NHL scorer who has produced everywhere he’s played throughout his career. However, over the last five years, he’s found himself playing for five different teams with the Jets being his sixth stop on this journey. Perhaps this is just a sign of a player without a no-trade clause, but it feels like he should be a fixture on someone’s top line, not a deadline acquisition multiple times in just a few years.
You rarely get the opportunity to acquire a 30-goal-scoring forward at the trade deadline, so it makes sense why he has been a popular acquisition for NHL general managers. He’s also responsible in the defensive zone and drives play, which means he makes players around him better too.
Jets Get Their Perfect Winger in Toffoli
For Winnipeg, it’s hard to understate how great of a move acquiring Toffoli can be. The franchise has a clear need for an offensively-minded top-six winger, and there really wasn’t a better option available outside of Jake Guentzel this deadline. However, they only gave up a second and third-round pick, which is a relatively small cost for a premium player at a retained salary
Immediately, Toffoli will be tied at the top of the Jets’ goalscoring chart this season with Kyle Connor, and he is a step ahead of everyone else in that category for the team. We also saw how anemic Winnipeg’s offense can be without their top players, so he is a great insurance policy for those eventual playoff injuries.
Sure, there’s a chance he won’t mesh with the Jets, but Toffoli has proven himself more than capable of adjusting to new teams on the fly. Given this alone, there’s no reason to believe he can’t have an impact immediately in Winnipeg.
Grade: A
Devils Continue to Fumble 2023-24 Season
It’s hard not to look at the Devil’s season as such a missed opportunity. After things looked to be turning a corner in 2022-23, acquiring Toffoli this offseason felt like a perfect move, especially at that reasonable cost. Most importantly, he lived up to all expectations by leading the team in goalscoring, yet New Jersey struggled everywhere else due to a rash of injuries and some bad luck.
Now, less than a calendar year later, Toffoli is on the move again. On the positive side, you can say that the Devils essentially got a second-round pick for his 26 goals scored, but they lost a valuable roster player in Yegor Sharangovich who is now starting to blossom for the Calgary Flames.
Overall, it’s hard to imagine a return that wouldn’t feel disappointing for the Devils since selling Toffoli meant they were no longer a playoff team. Perhaps these picks can be used to add some more depth this offseason, but that will be a future conversation for the franchise.
Grade: C
More must-reads: