Confirmed with Link: Habs Sign Tyler Toffoli (4 Years @ $4.25M AAV)

[Roadhouse]

Something about Hoffman just stinks really badly. You would imagine a guy with his craftiness, speed and absolutely lethal shot would be a superstar yet he's there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in his services around the league. There has been controversies off ice, he's been dumped from one team to another, there certainly are defensive shortcomings on ice and now there just isn't all that much talk around him.

Panthers fans have said once his wheels go, he's useless. And his wheels are about to go, too.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Panthers fans have said once his wheels go, he's useless. And his wheels are about to go, too.

It's still kinda weird. The guy is actually scoring at nearly the same rate as Taylor Hall for christ's sake.

 

[Roadhouse]

He's gonna be a guy that doesn't really do anything for most of the game but when he gets the puck on his stick in a good spot he can finish. I wonder how crazy he's gonna drive Habs fans. Honestly he is the type of player we need though. We have too many players that work super hard and give honest efforts but can never score. Having a guy like Toffoli sprinkled in should be ok.

It's honestly great to get a purpose-built finisher in the mix. With perimeter guys like Drouin passing East-West in the O zone and forechecking types like Lehkonen who often come out with the puck in a corner when you don't expect them to, Toffoli and Anderson may be asked to shoot a lot.

 

[Roadhouse]

It's still kinda weird. The guy is actually scoring at nearly the same rate as Taylor Hall for christ's sake.

Yeah. Nashville didn't even bother trying him on the roster, he was flipped like an '07 Civic.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I've always liked Toffoli. Hope he can give the Habs 4 solid seasons. For a UFA signing he's a pretty solid addition.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Yeah. Nashville didn't even bother trying him on the roster, he was flipped like an '07 Civic.

It was SJ but yeah. And Ottawa felt like his presence was so toxic they'd rather have a washed up Mikkel Boedker. I'm honestly more confident with Toffoli than him.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

We were decimated by injuries, Price was awful, Domi was terrible and KK had a brutal sophomore slump. This team before the additions, was much closer to the bubble team than the regular season edition. Just imagine replacing Domi's useless carcass with Anderson's power and Belzile/Weal/Hudon with Toffoli. We grossly outplayed Philly as it was but these additions very likely would have made difference.

Add Romanov and Edmundson too. I don't know anything about Edmundson and I'm not QUITE as high on Roma

One-time 30 goal scorer who never hit it again. Just like Hornqvist.

Expecting more than 20-25 is foolishness.

Why when he paced for more just last year? It might not happen but 'foolishness'?

 

[le_sean]

It was SJ but yeah. And Ottawa felt like his presence was so toxic they'd rather have a washed up Mikkel Boedker. I'm honestly more confident with Toffoli than him.

There must be something. Kitchener didn’t want to give him a fair shot so he went to the Q. Gatineau didn’t like his effort so they dumped him off. He then found success with Drummondville. The effort level has never been there and he’s needed several kicks to the butt to listen. He’s very talented though so he was able to overcome that, but he seems like the type that will overvalue himself and not budge.

 

[417]

It was SJ but yeah. And Ottawa felt like his presence was so toxic they'd rather have a washed up Mikkel Boedker. I'm honestly more confident with Toffoli than him.

Ottawa had no choice...although they knew about this issue with Hoffman's wife and Erik Karlsson's wife months before. They chose to do nothing about it, until it became public and the optics wiped out all of Hoffman's trade value.

So they sent him to San Jose, because they wanted him as far away as possible from Ottawa (then San Jose flipped him to Florida).

That's because Pierre Dorion is clueless and in over his head.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Ottawa had no choice...although they knew about this issue with Hoffman's wife and Erik Karlsson's wife months before. They chose to do nothing about it, until it became public and the optics wiped out all of Hoffman's trade value.

So they sent him to San Jose, because they wanted him as far away as possible from Ottawa (then San Jose flipped him to Florida).

That's because Pierre Dorion is clueless and in over his head.

No doubt Dorion f***ed up there too but seriously. Like @le_sean said he's had this going on since juniors. Now obviously Ottawa had to do something when the horrifying things his wife did came out but you'd think your 30 goal scorer on a completely reasonable contract would garner some interest. Wilson then made Dorion look like an idiot with the trade but even he couldn't be fast enough to flip Hoffman away and only fetched a bunch of middling picks for him. Now Florida lets him go and nobody is having an issue with that. It's not just the feud between his wife and Karlsson's wife, there has to be more to why teams don't like Hoffman.

 

[azcanuck]

Depends on the money, and maybe if you're just looking at the individuals. If Hoffman gets around 6.5M, I probably take Toffoli. At the same price though, Hoffman can produce more and we need goalscoring. You need to consider the team. Our issue every year in the POs is scoring.
I'm not worried about the two way ability of our team. Price averaged well under 2 GAA in the POs and we still couldn't win because we can't buy goals. That's my focus.

Again valid points. But winning is number one. Hoffman's analytics suggest he's a negative overall. His shooting talent is clear, 27th in the league in shooting talent above average . But his WAR was a career worst -.1. Overall he has a below level replacement impact. That doesnt work on a team like Montreal which has everyone on the same page.
Tyler on the other hand has superb analytics. Before the trade to the Canucks he led the Kings in every meaningful advanced stat (Corsi%, expected goals, points etc)
It's also no coincidence the Canucks made a playoff run last year with the addition of Tyler. He played very well for them. He's a Stanley Cup winner with the Kings .
Hoffman on the other hand is a loser.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Few tidbits from the articles on The Athletic:
- Signed here because we were the only team to offer the 4th year.
- Godin reinforces the fact that Toffoli can play LW. Would have him on the Suzuki/Anderson line. (which kind of reminds me of the VAN line he played on based on player roles)
- His handedness and the fact he can play both wing adds a lot of flexibility for CJ.
- Points out that in the last 5 years, Toffoli only has 1 fewer goal than Hall on the PP (in 200 mins less of ice time).
- Like I pointed out when the signing broke out, bumper role suits him. He mentions the fact that he was good at creating plays too from that position, not just scoring.
- Wonders the impact of the faster Eastern Conference on his skating.

- Basu makes a throwback to that Price interview about him losing patience and says this off-season should not only boost Price's morale/confidence but also demonstrates the belief that MB has on this team following their playoff series.
- Quality two way player, led the league one year in short handed goals. Very clever at getting open.
- Basu, like me, projects a Lehkonen - KK - Toffoli line. Also mentions possibility of a Toffoli - KK - Armia line.

 

[FrankMTL]

Few tidbits from the articles on The Athletic:
- Signed here because we were the only team to offer the 4th year.
- Godin reinforces the fact that Toffoli can play LW. Would have him on the Suzuki/Anderson line. (which kind of reminds me of the VAN line he played on based on player roles)
- His handedness and the fact he can play both wing adds a lot of flexibility for CJ.
- Points out that in the last 5 years, Toffoli only has 1 fewer goal than Hall on the PP (in 200 mins less of ice time).
- Like I pointed out when the signing broke out, bumper role suits him. He mentions the fact that he was good at creating plays too from that position, not just scoring.
- Wonders the impact of the faster Eastern Conference on his skating.

- Basu makes a throwback to that Price interview about him losing patience and says this off-season should not only boost Price's morale/confidence but also demonstrates the belief that MB has on this team following their playoff series.
- Quality two way player, led the league one year in short handed goals. Very clever at getting open.
- Basu, like me, projects a Lehkonen - KK - Toffoli line. Also mentions possibility of a Toffoli - KK - Armia line.

That's so strange that we were the only team to offer him a 4th year....It's not like he's 32 or 33 years old, he's 28 and in his prime.

 

[le_sean]

That's so strange that we were the only team to offer him a 4th year....It's not like he's 32 or 33 years old, he's 28 and in his prime.

Could be a number of factors. Some owners may be reluctant on signing off an the total sum with such uncertainty in the business world. Could also be related to the cap going up in 2-3 years and teams positioning themselves for a possible crazy offseason. Not sure. I agree with you though, at 28 years old, 4 years is no issue.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

That's so strange that we were the only team to offer him a 4th year....It's not like he's 32 or 33 years old, he's 28 and in his prime.

I think it goes to show the impact of the pandemic on the business. The Toffoli, Markstrom*, Brodie, Krug*, Pietrangelo*, Tanev are the only deals to be 4 years or longer since the market opened. Last year, Varlamov, Lee, Bobrovsky, Donskoi, Duchene, Nyquist, Panik (!), Hathaway (!!), Tanev, Panarin, Zucc, Connolly, Myers, Ferland all signed for 4 years or longer. (6 deals vs 14)

 

[Kriss E]

Something about Hoffman just stinks really badly. You would imagine a guy with his craftiness, speed and absolutely lethal shot would be a superstar yet he's there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in his services around the league. There has been controversies off ice, he's been dumped from one team to another, there certainly are defensive shortcomings on ice and now there just isn't all that much talk around him.

Hmmm..I feel like you might be exaggerating things yourself and you're going waist deep into speculations.
He's only played for 2 teams and he's 30, that's actually good. There hasn't been any rumors about any type of drama from his time in Florida. A 30yo trying to cash in on the open market is pretty common, and the rumor back in spring was that he wanted to test free agency, not that Florida didn't want him.
As for the talk around him, who knows. My guess is he's waiting it out for more cash.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Hmmm..I feel like you might be exaggerating things yourself and you're going waist deep into speculations.
He's only played for 2 teams and he's 30, that's actually good. There hasn't been any rumors about any type of drama from his time in Florida. A 30yo trying to cash in on the open market is pretty common, and the rumor back in spring was that he wanted to test free agency, not that Florida didn't want him.
As for the talk around him, who knows. My guess is he's waiting it out for more cash.

He was also briefly part of the SJ organization but who knows what that was about, it was more likely Dorion not wanting to trade him in the same conference/division than D. Wilson not liking his character.

 

[Be a Hab]

Hoping that Montreal start their training camp a little earlier this year. Would be nice to give more time for this new group de get to know each other, find some chemistry and work on the PP that has been non existent these last few years.

 

[BaseballCoach]

There is significant difference skill level for a guy who can consistently hit 30 vs only 25. 4 goals sounds small, but for this particular gap, it's takes wide difference in ability to achieve the results, even moreso to consistently hit or break 30 like a Pacioretty could.

Even Vanek, who certainly looks more skilled on tape, never got back to his youthful 40-goal form after 2011-2012. (2012-2013 was the weird lockout shortened season)

I never said nor thought he would regularly hit 30 goals. I brought up last year as a counter to the previous year. AT age 28, I'm looking for 20-25 goals per year with good all-round play for a middle-six/second line type player. That's definitely below prime Pacioretty levels.

 

[Kriss E]

He was also briefly part of the SJ organization but who knows what that was about, it was more likely Dorion not wanting to trade him in the same conference/division than D. Wilson not liking his character.

That's not what happened though.
Tallon said on record how the price when he asked for a Hoffman trade to Florida was just too high. He then got a call from Wilson for a potential Hoffman trade should they acquire him.
This deal was done before Hoffman was even traded to the Sharks. Had nothing to do with character issues.

 

[BaseballCoach]

You forgot Ramolov

and also Rodunov

 

[Kriss E]

Again valid points. But winning is number one. Hoffman's analytics suggest he's a negative overall. His shooting talent is clear, 27th in the league in shooting talent above average . But his WAR was a career worst -.1. Overall he has a below level replacement impact. That doesnt work on a team like Montreal which has everyone on the same page.
Tyler on the other hand has superb analytics. Before the trade to the Canucks he led the Kings in every meaningful advanced stat (Corsi%, expected goals, points etc)
It's also no coincidence the Canucks made a playoff run last year with the addition of Tyler. He played very well for them. He's a Stanley Cup winner with the Kings .
Hoffman on the other hand is a loser.

At the end of the day, we can't put the puck in the net. If we can't score goals while Price allows less than 2 goals per game, I really don't give a crap what analytic stat you're doing great in.
Anyways, what's done is done, hopefully Toffo finds a new wind and gets back up to 30 goals.

 

[The Real Timo]

Just emerging from the turkey coma... Toffoli, eh? Well... I guess if you can't sign better players you sign those that are less than better and hope once again that there is another covid outbreak and your team makes the playoffs as top 24.

As I understand Garbage Bin has zero cap room left now so this is what we got. W00t!!!

 

[BaseballCoach]

Somewhat true, but you or I are not in the room...I would think he stands out like a sore thumb, with his lack of effort, and lack of results.
Would love to see the new guys come on board and create some space for JD and he gets it going!!

I don't really see lack of effort.

In fact, prior to his injury last year, besides getting points, he was being praised for his effort as well. After he came back from the injury, results were not there but effort was pretty good. Julien would have been much harder on him had it not been so.

In the playoffs, Drouin was definitely hustling and backchecking. Surely you saw that too.

 

[HBDay]

Just emerging from the turkey coma... Toffoli, eh? Well... I guess if you can't sign better players you sign those that are less than better and hope once again that there is another covid outbreak and your team makes the playoffs as top 24.

As I understand Garbage Bin has zero cap room left now so this is what we got. W00t!!!

Interesting take from all this. Awesome goaltending tandem, huge body defense, strong wing position all the way down the lineup, two young centers the season is relying on.

But yes, garbage, bergevin, worst, etc.