Instant reaction to the Calgary Flames’ Tyler Toffoli for Yegor Sharangovich trade

Craig Conroy has made his first trade as general manager of the Calgary Flames. He sent Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick.

The reaction of Flames fans has been pretty negative so far. So, I thought it would be a good idea to present some reasons as to why this is a good trade for the Calgary Flames.

Toffoli is a 31-year-old winger coming off a career year with one year left on his contract. These types of players in a flat cap NHL do not have much value on the trade market.

Taylor Hall was just traded to the Blackhawks for nothing. Max Pacioretty was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for nothing. Oliver Bjorkstrand was traded to the Seattle Kraken for a 3rd and 4th round pick. These types of players don’t have a lot of value even coming off a 35 goal, 70+ point season.

Conroy made a smart decision to move on from Toffoli now and not sign him to a contract extension. Toffoli is likely looking for at least a four-year contract extension. That would take him to his age 36 season. Those of the types of moves that kill your salary cap structure. The Flames are already old as is and they desperately need to get younger. This trade does just that.

I can’t imagine there are a lot of Flames fans who watch a lot of New Jersey Devils hockey, so you probably don’t know a whole heck of a lot about Sharangovich.

He is a 25-year-old, left shot forward who has the ability top play each position up front. He can play on the penalty kill and power play. He has a really good shot and offensive instincts.

Over the last three seasons, Toffoli has 84 points at 5-on-5. Sharangovich has 76 points at 5-on-5. The big difference has come on the power play where Toffoli was on the first unit in Montreal and Calgary, whereas Sharangovich hasn’t has much of an opportunity to play on the man advantage.

Sharangovich has the potential to be a 50–60-point player if he is put in a position to succeed.

On top of all that, he is six years younger than Toffoli and an RFA. The Flames will likely be able to sign him to a value contract for 2-4 years at a manageable cap hit. They get Sharangovich’ s prime years. Not his mid to late 30’s like they would have got with Toffoli.

The Flames also acquire a third round pick in the deepest draft since 2003 which is never a bad thing.

Overall, I don’t think this is a bad trade like a lot of fans have made it out to be. Wingers like Toffoli don’t have much value on the trade market. And the Flames were able to acquire a player on the rise who has shown a lot of promise but hasn’t had a great opportunity to succeed in New Jersey. Let’s give Sharangovich a chance to prove himself. I think the C of Red will like this player when it’s all said and done.