CALGARY – It’s not the type of trade any general manager likes to make, let alone a rookie:
A player who just led his team in scoring wants out.
Hard to swallow, even harder to win.
It’s a familiar scenario in Calgary, where the GM is once again being forced to make the best of a situation that’s far from ideal.
On Tuesday Flames GM Craig Conroy pulled the trigger on his first NHL trade, sending Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils for Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick in Thursday's NHL Entry Draft.
As Conroy is quick to point out, the Flames got considerably younger with the deal, and managed to add a third rounder (80th overall) in a deep draft.
They also lost their top scorer last season, as 31-year-old Toffoli set career highs with 34 goals and 73 points as a surprising first-line fixture.
So happy with his lot in life under Darryl Sutter, Toffoli punctuated the season by saying he’d love to sign an extension with the club past next season.
Then, as Toffoli revealed Tuesday, crickets.
“At my end of year meeting I wanted to stay – I talked to Tre (former GM Brad Treliving) and the conversation was had and everybody knew I wanted to stay,” said Toffoli via Zoom.
“I was waiting for an extension conversation and there was none coming and didn’t feel like there was one in the future.
“It didn’t sound like there was any sort of need for me, or want in a way, so it was a personal decision.
“I thought it was time for myself and my wife to experience something different and move forward.”
Did the Flames drop the ball and neglect Toffoli, or was the club simply hesitant to commit long-term to the 31-year-old past next season?
Either way, Toffoli decided two weeks ago he was done in Calgary, requesting a trade.
“He liked Calgary, but he just wanted a change in the end,” said Conroy, minutes after pulling the trigger on his maiden swap.
“He (originally) expressed maybe being here and something (a contract offer) happening quickly, and when it didn’t… there are so many moving parts and he wanted a change.
“That’s not why we did anything.
“We’ve just got to make sure guys want to be here and that’s the direction we went.”
There was never any chance the Flames could get a first liner in return for Toffoli.
But then, at his age and given his previous bests, there is also a good chance Toffoli might not be a first-liner much longer, if at all.
Regardless, the Flames aren’t better off next season after this trade.
They’ll be better off long term though.
And therein lies the quandary facing Conroy and the Flames:
How on earth can you swap out the likes of Noah Hanifin and possibly Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund, and expect to continue with the club’s win-now mantra?
This trade may very well mark the start of a retooling the Flames hope to conduct on the fly.
Depending on how the next few weeks unfold, it could be more like a rebuild.
We’ll see.
In Sharagovich the Flames land a 25-year-old Belarussian who adds versatility, youth and size.
“Good size, skates well, can score,” was Conroy’s initial scouting report on the three-year NHLer drafted in the fifth round.
“He’s a shooter, that’s his MO.
“He had 24 goals two years ago and he got caught up in the numbers game this year - his minutes were down and he didn’t play as much.
“He’s a really good penalty killer and we like how he reads plays.”
Indeed, there is plenty of talent in New Jersey these days, especially up the middle where Sharangovich was drafted.
So, he was moved all around the lineup in Jersey, where he finished ninth in scoring this year.
Sharangovich is a restricted free agent in need of a contract. His last deal paid him $2 million annually.
“He plays all three positions, but he plays wing more,” said Conroy of the 6-foot-2, 200-pound former captain of Dynamo Minsk of the KHL.
“We have reports on right, left and center.
“He’s versatile, for sure, so we’ll see how camp goes and who he fits with.”
Plenty remains to be seen in terms of how the summer goes, starting Wednesday with the Flames picking 16th overall pick in Nashville, where Conroy was thrilled to add a third rounder they were missing.
Free agency hits Saturday, and Conroy said the team does not see that as a deadline to sign Lindholm to an extension or pull the trigger on a deal.
“We’re not in any hurry on Lindy – we’re making sure we go about the whole process the right way,” he said.
The process surrounding Toffoli’s trade will be a hot topic moving forward.
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