Tyler Toffoli has spent seven and a half seasons in Los Angeles, winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, but he is on his way to Vancouver. As he prepares to join the Canucks, what are the implications for the two teams?
Tyler Toffoli has been traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward Tim Schaller, the rights to prospect Tyler Madden, a 2020 second-round pick, and a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick.
Toffoli is set to become a free agent this summer, and he carries a $4.6 million cap hit for the rest of this season. The 27-year-old has tallied 18 goals and 16 assists in 58 games with the Kings this year.
In his career, Toffoli has totaled 290 points (139 goals and 151 assists) in 515 games. He also has added 21 points (nine goals and 12 assists) in 47 playoff games, including 14 points (seven goals and seven assists) in 26 games in the 2014 postseason, in route to a Stanley Cup.
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Going the other way to LA is Schaller, a 29-year-old forward who has posted five goals, one assist, and a -13 rating this season in 51 games in Vancouver, as well as Tyler Madden, a 2018 third-round selection by the Canucks, currently in his sophomore season at Northwestern University.
Schaller has played six NHL seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, the Boston Bruins, and the Canucks. He has 57 points (29 goals and 28 assists) in 274 career games, adding three points (one goal and two assists) in 17 playoff games, all with Boston. He comes in at $1.9 million in the last year of his deal.
This trade works for both sides, as the Kings continue a much-needed rebuild, and the Canucks continue their push for a playoff spot, while also filling voids left by injuries to Brock Boeser and Micheal Ferland.
Most importantly, this move for Vancouver helps to separate them in the extremely crowded Pacific division. This trade deadline feels as though it has more teams looking for difference makers, than it actually has difference makers available to we acquired, making this trade all the more critical for the Canucks.
With more dominoes to fall, the NHL’s trade deadline will make or break this season for some teams. For the Canucks, they got their man early. Look for this move to get Vancouver to the postseason.