The Montreal Canadiens began selling assets well ahead of the 2022 NHL trade deadline.
With the team sitting in last place in the NHL standings, the Habs dealt winger Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames for a first round pick, prospect Emil Heineman, veteran winger Tyler Pitlick and a fifth round pick.
It was a nice haul for Toffoli, who played just one full (well, Covid shortened) season with the Canadiens after signing a four year deal with the Habs.
Toffoli fit in absolutely perfectly with the Canadiens, leading the team in goals and points last season as he put up 28 goals and 44 points in just 52 games. He was also great in the postseason, scoring five goals and 14 points, helping the Habs make it to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993.
It took no time for Toffoli to fit in well with the Canadiens and he is doing the same with the Flames after his midseason trade.
The Canadiens will face Toffoli for the first time since moving him to Calgary as the Habs face the Flames tonight.
Toffoli has slotted onto a line with Sean Monahan and Milan Lucic with the Flames and has been excellent. They are probably the team’s third line behind the excellent trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm as well as a two-way threat of Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane.
But, Toffoli’s line has been piling up points while taking advantage of good matchups. If the Backlund line is tasked with shutting down opponent’s top lines, and the Lindholm line takes on tough matchups as other teams try to shut them down, it leaves Toffoli’s unit playing against bottom six forwards and third pairing defenders.
Good luck to Kale Clague and Chris Wideman because they are going to face a very difficult matchup a lot on the road tonight.
Toffoli was traded to the Flames on February 14th and has scored seven points in seven games since arriving in the Alberta city. Six of those points have come in his last four games and many of them have come on the power play where Toffoli has found on a role on the top unit with Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson.
Still, his line is dominating possession at even strength as well and are taking advantage of the matchups they are getting, but the pucks haven’t been finding the back of the net for Lucic and Monahan.
It is just a matter of time with the way they are creating chances. If Toffoli is half as good against his former team tonight as he was in all of those games last season when he destroyed his former team, the Vancouver Canucks, then the Canadiens will be in for a long night tonight.
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