Starting in February of 2020, over a four-year span, winger Tyler Toffoli wound up with six different teams: Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, New Jersey, and Winnipeg. It is safe to say he was probably tired of getting bounced around so much, so he found a home with some term in San Jose:

Toffoli is coming off a 33-goal season split between the Devils and the Jets, and turned 32 years old during the playoffs. Let's break it down.

What San Jose Gets

There has been a clear theme to the Sharks so far this offseason and that's to start surrounding their young players with talent. The days of outright tanking are over, even if they're not close to a playoff team yet. They claimed Barclay Goodrow off waivers, traded for Jake Walman, and have now signed Toffoli. They are also unlikely to stop here, so at least this team won't be a complete doormat in 2024-25 even if they could very well be headed to the Draft Lottery once again.

As for Toffoli, he is a player who likes to play fast off the rush, can also play off the cycle, and is great at getting himself open to finish off plays. He doesn't necessarily do the neutral zone work himself, though he won't necessarily have to in San Jose depending on his line mates. The curious thing is that AllThreeZones had the Sharks as one of the worst teams in the league off the rush last season. That is likely more the personnel than anything, and adding Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, along with Toffoli, should make the top-6 forward mix play a lot faster.

This also isn't necessarily a bad move for Toffoli, production-wise. San Jose still isn't deep up front and will have to rely on their top forwards a lot, both at even strength and on the power play. The proof we need of that is Mikael Granlund having a viable fantasy season in 2023-24 despite the Sharks being one of the worst teams of the cap era. With a bit more firepower, and Toffoli probably pushing 18 minutes a night including top power play time, he very much has 25-goal, 50-point potential. If Celebrini and Smith are even better than advertised at this point, and another defenceman or two who can move the puck are added, it would not be surprising to see Toffoli get back to 30 goals.

Fabian Zetterlund now has some competition on the right side. Toffoli is capable of playing both sides, so it's not a death knell by any means, but it seems likely William Eklund stays in the top line left wing role so if Toffoli takes the right side, that means second-line minutes for Zetterlund. That also depends on whether they use Smith as a winger or a centre, too. We will wait until later in the offseason when their roster shakes out a bit more, but it seems like a top PP unit of Granlund, Toffoli, Eklund, and Celebrini is in the offing and if that's the case, Zetterlund could be staring down second line, second power play minutes. Not ideal.

Back in Winnipeg, this should open up a top-6 role for Cole Perfetti but it feels like we've been saying that for two years now. I guess someone has to take the mantle from Nikolaj Ehlers once (if) he's traded.

Who This Helps

Mikael Granlund

William Eklund

Who This Hurts

Fabian Zetterlund