Top scorer Toffoli dealt to New Jersey for Sharangovich and a third-round pick
By whittling away one player from the extensive list of veteran pending unrestricted free agents in 2024, Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy added a few key ingredients.
In the deal that sent Tyler Toffoli — who requested a trade believing a new, long-term deal in Calgary was not in the cards — to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Conroy brought in a younger forward in Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick in this year’s draft.
Whether Conroy’s first trade as the Flames GM turns out to be a hit or a miss remains to be seen, but you an easily see what he was looking to achieve.
Only time will tell the long-term impact of the swap, but here are three immediate thoughts.
The return is underwhelming at first glance: In Toffoli, the Flames have jettisoned last season’s leader in goals (34) and points (73). Toffoli, 31, has one season remaining on a deal with a $4.25 million salary cap hit. It looks worse when you note Calgary spent a 2022 first-rounder (which Montreal used to select Filip Mesar), prospect Emil Heineman (a second-round pick of the Florida Panthers acquired in the deal that also sent away Sam Bennett) and more for one and a half seasons of Toffoli. It does scream of diminishing returns. That said, Toffoli was a 29-year-old with three seasons remaining on a friendly deal back then.
Options, size, speed and a hope: Sharangovich is capable of playing all three forward positions (although his success on face-offs leaves a lot to be desired) and is a strong penalty killer. At 6-foot-2, he gives the Flames much-needed size along with speed. The big hope is that Sharangovich is a second-line player, or a key element to a very good third line, and can rebound to the 24-goal player of 2021-22, and not the 13-goal player this past season.
“It’s that versatility that sets him apart from other guys,” Conroy told the media in Nashville after making the swap. “He’s a shooter and he can score. He had 24 goals two years ago, and this year not as much ice time (an average of more than two minutes per game), but we feel if we can put him in a position to have success, he will. You’ve got to project forward what he’s gonna be.”
Adding youth and saving cash: Sharangovich is a restricted free agent requiring a $2.05 million qualifying offer and with arbitration rights, according to puckpedia.com. Whether he signs a one-year deal or a long-term pact, the 2018 fifth-round pick who turned 25 earlier this month will cost the Flames less than they would have needed to keep Toffoli in the long-term. Likely, it means a step back for the Flames, but it is part of a much-needed youth movement “The age is really gonna come down on this team,” Conroy said.