Tyler Toffoli Is A Must Add In Fantasy After Trade To Calgary
Tyler Toffoli will always be part of good graces after helping me secure my first fantasy hockey championship. If you’re playing fantasy hockey right now, Toffoli might be able to do the same for you. Toffoli was stuck in a bad situation in Montreal, but boy… did his fantasy value swing for the better.
With the Canadiens in sell mode, Montreal shipped Toffoli to the red hot Flames for 2022 first round draft pick (top-10 protected), a 2024 fifth round pick, forward Tyler Pitlick, and prospect Emil Heineman. It should quickly be mentioned that the prospect the Flames gave up was unsigned and was part of the Sam Bennett deal Calgary made with Florida last year creating an interesting wrinkle we can talk about at a further date.
Put everything aside. Tyler Toffoli is a pretty good hockey player. Toffoli, 29, scored 28 goals a year ago in a shortened season that otherwise would have served as a career high. Toffoli’s play was a big reason why Montreal made the Cup Finals. Things just sort of cratered the following year. None of which have much to do with Toffoli.
It remains to be seen where Toffoli will be slotted in Calgary. Early indications suggest that Toffoli will be slotted on the second line with Blake Coleman (or Andrew Mangiapane) and Mikael Backlund. More importantly, Toffoli will likely steal Shane Monahan’s spot on the number one power play unit.
Montreal is terrible. We’re better off throwing Toffoli’s stats out the window. Then again, Toffoli is averaging a respectable 2.1 points per game in standard scoring on a bad team. Toffoli had a shooting percentage of 17.7% last year which certainly will fit right in on a Flames team that’s currently second to Florida in shots per game. Montreal ranks dead last in that category.
The only real negative is the fact that Toffoli no longer plays with Nick Suzuki. The cons end right there. Calgary is a much better team and are probably the favorites at this point to win the Pacific. Toffoli was already putting up okay numbers on the worst team in the league. Now put him on the power play unit with Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuck, and a red hot JOHNNY? OKAY…
Toffoli is currently owned in less than 25% of ESPN fantasy leagues. If this matters, there’s a chance Toffoli gets acclimated quickly. He’s played for Daryl Suter before and credits most of his development to the Flames head coach. Toffoli played with Brad Richardson, Trevor Lewis, and Milan Lucic in Los Angeles with the Kings. Ditto for Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev in Vancouver.
The last time Toffoli played for Suter, he scored a career high 31 goals in 2015-16. He’s going to pick up points on this power play. Half the battle is finding good players on good teams when it comes to this fantasy hockey. Toffoli is a much better asset than someone like Travis Konecny who plays on a bad Flyers team that doesn’t score.
The reason why the Flames made this deal is because Shane Manahan is having a down year. He’s not burying those chances that he was a year ago. Toffoli has come in for clean up duty. I expect the chemistry for Toffoli to be there. The point production will sky rocket just leaving Montreal. I’m sure half the stench left just by leaving that locker room.
Taking smart gambles like Toffoli are the type of risks that can push you over the top in fantasy. If you haven’t done so already, put a waiver claim in for the Flames new winger. He’s a worthwhile add on a hot Flames team that isn’t going anywhere.
