The Jets already made a top-six addition when they acquired Sean Monahan from Montreal last month. They’re now set to make another one as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they are closing in on a trade with New Jersey for winger Tyler Toffoli. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press adds (Twitter link) that the Devils are expected to receive second and third-round picks in return. The Jets don’t have their own second-round pick this year but they do have Montreal’s, a well-traveled pick that has already been involved in trades for Christian Dvorak, Sean Durzi, and Pierre-Luc Dubois so far.
Toffoli was in his first season with New Jersey who acquired him from Calgary in the summer after the two sides weren’t able to agree on a contract extension. The Devils had tried to extend Toffoli as well but clearly, those talks weren’t able to yield a new deal, resulting in this trade instead over the risk of him leaving in free agency in July.
The 31-year-old was productive with the Devils, leading the team in goals with 26 through 61 games while chipping in with 18 assists as well; his goal total ties him for the Winnipeg lead with Kyle Connor. He surpassed the 30-goal mark last season for the second time in his career and appears to be well on his way toward doing so once again this year. In the playoffs, Toffoli has had some success with 44 points in 88 games, including 14 in 22 playoff appearances with the Canadiens in their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He’ll be counted on to provide some extra scoring punch on a Winnipeg team that is outside the top 20 in goals scored so far this season.
Despite being a consistent contributor offensively, Toffoli has bounced around in recent seasons. This will be the sixth team that Toffoli has played for since 2020, joining Vancouver, Los Angeles, Montreal, Calgary, and New Jersey. Barring an extension, the number may increase to seven in the coming months.
Toffoli has a $4.25M cap hit, one that Winnipeg can work in without needing salary retention. However, if they take on the full freight of the deal, that won’t leave them with much more cap room to work with so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Devils at least retain a portion of his contract once the deal is made official.
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