The Vancouver Canucks need to find a way to bring back Tyler Toffoli this offseason.
For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Vancouver Canucks made the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Not only that, they upset the reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in the first round and took the Vegas Golden Knights to the brink in the second round before losing in Game 7.
The Canucks have a very promising future, but they’ve still got to make some very tough decisions this offseason. One of their easiest ones should be keeping trade deadline acquisition Tyler Toffoli around. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9 at the start of the league’s new year.
Vancouver had to give up quite a lot to get Toffoli as a rental, as they surrendered a 2020 second-round pick, highly thought of prospect Tyler Madden, Tim Schaller, and a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick that they’ll give up if they re-sign Toffoli.
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Due to the pandemic, Toffoli didn’t spend too much time with the Canucks, but so far, he has been an excellent fit in Vancouver. He gave the team a veteran leader who knows what it takes to win a Stanley Cup, as he won with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. In 17 total games with the Canucks, split between the regular season and postseason, Toffoli has posted eight goals and six assists for 14 points.
At 28 years old, Toffoli probably still has several good years left in him. He was a great fit in Vancouver and gave them even more depth. When guys like Brock Boeser struggled, Toffoli stepped up big time.
The good news is Toffoli would like to stay with the Vancouver Canucks. In fact, he said it was his top priority.
"“I want to stay in Vancouver and that’s my No. 1 priority as of right now.”"
In the interview, Toffoli noted the Canucks have some impressive players and he was really impressed with his teammates. He wants to sign with a winning organization and he seems to truly believe the Canucks are a winning organization.
The feeling is probably mutual with the Vancouver Canucks. They have enough cap space to re-sign Toffoli, especially if they do the smart thing and move on from goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Thatcher Demko was outstanding against the Golden Knights. There’s no reason to keep Markstrom around unless he is willing to be a part of a tandem and is willing to be paid appropriately for that role.
This offseason’s goalie market has a ton of options. There are more starting goalies available than there are teams looking for starting goalies. Inevitably, there’s going to be some goalies left without a team and they’re going to have to be willing to adjust their asking prices. The Canucks could easily target one of those goalies as a veteran backup for Demko.
Toffoli’s coming off a deal which paid him $4.6 million annually for three years. He’ll likely want a bit of a raise, but not too much. Something in the $5 million to $6 million range annually would make a lot of sense for the Canucks. It would let them keep one of their best players while not completing hampering their chances of signing both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to huge deals in a year.
The Canucks would have to do some cap maneuvering to keep Toffoli, Pettersson, and Hughes. But it would totally be worth it. Next season is an important one for the Canucks. It will be their last season with both Pettersson and Hughes, arguably their top two players, signed to their entry-level deals. Once they are no longer huge bargains, it will be much harder for the Canucks to win.
Vancouver’s unquestionably a better team with Toffoli. When you find someone like him, you do what it takes to keep them around.