“I was waiting”: Toffoli reveals Flames' disinterest in contract talks

Tyler Toffoli’s camp didn’t receive any talks about a potential extension between himself and the Calgary Flames.

Before reports surfaced that he wished to be moved elsewhere, Toffoli had been hoping for an extension with the Flames. Despite general manager Craig Conroy having only recently been hired, there were reports that the team had been in contact with Elias Lindholm’s and Mikael Backlund’s camps in hopes of working something out. That doesn’t appear to have been the case for Toffoli.

“I was waiting for an extension conversation and there was none coming and didn’t feel like there was one in the future,” Toffoli explained. “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.”

Toffoli said he wanted to sign extension in Cgy but requested a trade after contract talks weren't initiated.
"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…

— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) June 28, 2023

You can certainly understand why Toffoli would have been upset with the lack of interest he was shown. The 31-year-old had a career-best season with a team-leading 34 goals and 73 points, and sounded like one of few players who would’ve been happy to return next season in his end-of-year media availability.

That said, you can understand why the Flames hesitated to negotiate a new deal with Toffoli. While is he above the age of 30, he should have no problem landing a lengthy contract with a cap hit much higher than his current $4.25 million. With the Flames having to potentially shift to a rebuild given the uncertainty of several others on the current roster, paying Toffoli what he deserves wouldn’t make much sense now.

At the end of the day, the Flames were able to grant Toffoli his recent wish and send him to the Devils, though the return is being viewed as somewhat underwhelming. Coming back to Calgary in exchange for the 34-goal scorer is forward Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round draft pick. In 75 games last season, 25-year-old Sharangovich scored 13 goals and 30 points.

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