Brad Treliving made headlines on Valentine’s Day when he traded for Tyler Toffoli of the Montreal Canadiens.
This added an extra layer of depth and finally strengthened significantly the team’s secondary scoring. However, no player comes without a cost, with the Flames giving up four assets in return.
So, was it worth it?
To many Flames fans, the Tyler Toffoli trade is a symbol. After years of hearing that Brad Treliving was “in” on notable players like Mark Stone and most recently Jack Eichel, the Flames finally acquired an impact player in Toffoli.
The Trade
Calgary Gets Toffoli
I’m not going to get too in-depth with Toffoli as his player profile was already covered by Greg Amundsen in his article here.
All you need to know as a Flames fan is that Toffoli is an excellent play driver at even-strength, has an above-average shot, and shoots right – all areas the Flames have desired for quite some time in a top-six scoring winger.
Tyler Toffoli, traded to CGY, is a shoot-first top six winger who is one of the best in the league at creating scoring chances for himself. As we saw last season, he's also capable of putting pucks in the net. #CofRed pic.twitter.com/WBw55UWGbH
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 14, 2022
Assets to Montreal
Tyler Pitlick did exactly as was advertised for the Flames – a defence-first forward that couldn’t contribute offensively. While this kind of player is fine for a fourth line, Pitlick was routinely played on the third line, nullifying any hope of offence. His $1.75 million cap hit made him an expensive, one-dimensional player that had to go the other way due to cap restrictions. Losing Pitlick will not hurt the Flames in any way, and was a great addition by subtraction by Treliving.
Tyler Pitlick (traded to Montreal in return with some other bits and bobs) is a strong 5v5 defensive forward but a liability killing penalties. Not a scoring threat to speak of. pic.twitter.com/R2cOqjcJ3I
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 14, 2022
Emil Heineman is the prospect that the Flames received in the Sam Bennett trade last April, and Heineman’s inclusion in the Toffoli deal certainly makes Bennett’s trade more interesting.
Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Heineman other than he was a second-round pick of the Panthers in 2020. Looking into his stats, he wasn’t projected to be much of a star, and even his chances of becoming an NHL player look slimmer year over year. I’m extremely surprised that this was the player Montreal was targeting but pleased the Flames didn’t have to depart with more.
Emil Heineman is probably the Flames 10th or so best prospect (and an asset that has plateaued, isn't hitting development jumps and is nearly out of runway). Amazing the Flames didn't have to include a more significant prospect in this Toffoli deal. I like this very much. pic.twitter.com/DZELN3fA8N
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) February 14, 2022
The Flames also gave up a 2022 first-round pick and a 2023 fifth-round pick. These aren’t concerning, as with the way the Flames are trending this year, they’ll most likely finish with a mid-to-high twenty pick, which historically doesn’t have a high chance of landing a player of Toffoli’s caliber. Fifth-round picks don’t usually amount to anything special, and I doubt the Flames will miss them very much.
Conclusion
I don’t say this very often, but upon first glance, this trade looks like a slam dunk win for the Calgary Flames.
Toffoli is the best player in the deal and is cost controlled at $4.25 million for the next two years, giving the Flames 200 games or so of his services.
Montreal acquires a fourth-line defensive-minded player, a middling prospect, and picks that probably won’t amount to the player that Toffoli is. Brad Treliving should be given full marks for not only finally acquiring a player that fits the teams’ needs, but doing so without giving up any pieces of value in the process.