The Calgary Flames have acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens for a first-round pick, a fifth-round pick, Emil Heineman and Tyler Pitlick, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has learned, bolstering the team’s forward depth amid a resurgent hot streak.
Toffoli, who was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft, joined the Canadiens as a free agent in 2020, when he signed a four-year, $17-million contract.
During the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, Toffoli managed to score 28 goals and add 16 assists across 52 games, the seventh-best goal-scoring total among NHL players that season, and continued to find success during Montreal’s fabled run to the Cup Final — highlighted by scoring the series-winning goal in the second round against the Winnipeg Jets. In the Final, while struggling with a groin injury, he did not register a point.
This season, despite missing time after undergoing hand surgery and the Canadiens’ historic struggles as a team, he has scored nine times and added 17 assists.
Toffoli’s departure marks the latest move in what has been a year of transformation for Montreal. The team’s earlier struggles resulted in long-time general manager Marc Bergevin being fired at the end of November, with replacements Jeff Gorton (vice president of hockey operations) and Kent Hughes (general manager) inheriting the troubled franchise.
“I’ve been traded before and I know better not to get caught up in the rumours,” Toffoli said previously, when asked about being traded as part of the rebuilding effort. “Whatever direction they feel they want to go in, I want to be part of it.”
In Calgary, Toffoli joins a Flames club that has ascended in the standings of late, riding a six-game win streak to second place in the Pacific Division and a 26-13-65 record overall.
