Flames trade Tyler Toffoli to Devils for Sharangovich, 2023 pick

The Calgary Flames traded leading scorer Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and the 80th overall pick in the 2023 draft.

The trade comes a week after a Daily Faceoff report that Toffoli, who has a year remaining on his contract, would not re-sign with the Flames.

A seven-time 20-goal scorer, Toffoli is coming off the strongest season of his career despite playing for a Flames team that fell two points shy of the final Western Conference wild-card spot. He finished with career highs in goals (34), assists (39) and points (73) for the Flames, who finished 19th in goals per game.

Toffoli’s arrival in New Jersey bolsters a top-six forward group that already featured Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat.

Sharangovich, a pending restricted free agent who was in the final season of a two-year contract that saw him earn $2 million annually, gives the Flames another top-nine option. A 25-year-old winger, he had his third straight season of more than 40 points, though his 13 goals and 30 points in 75 games marked a slight dip from the 24 goals and 22 assists he had in the 2021-22 season.

Moving on from Toffoli is the latest chapter in a frantic offseason for the Flames.

It began when general manager Brad Treliving, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the team parted ways. The Flames then fired coach Darryl Sutter in his second stint with the club and promoted assistant GM Craig Conroy to be the team’s new GM. Conroy then elevated assistant coach Ryan Huska to head coach.

Toffoli might not be the only player to leave the Flames. According to Daily Faceoff, defenseman Noah Hanifin does not plan to re-sign and Mikael Backlund is leaning toward not re-signing. The team also is awaiting a decision from Elias Lindholm on a contract extension.

Backlund, who won the King Clancy Award at the NHL Awards on Monday, addressed his future by saying “it’s not my decision” whether he remains with the club.

Backlund, Hanifin and Lindholm are each entering the final season of their contracts on a team that currently has players such as Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Jacob Markstrom and MacKenzie Weegar under contract for at least three years.