Los Angeles Kings resign forward Tyler Toffoli to a three-year deal
By Jamaal Artis
Continuing a busy offseason with yet another move, the Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms with forward Tyler Toffoli.
The Los Angeles Kings have reported that they have re-signed forward Tyler Toffoli to a new three-year contract worth 13.8 million dollars at an annual salary of 4.6 million. The signing was announced by President Luc Robitaille and General Manager Rob Blake.
The 25-year-old scoring winger was originally drafted by the Kings in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft. The last three years Toffoli leads the Kings in 5 on 5 situation goals and scored a career-high of 31 during the 2015-16 season. Toffoli was part of the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Kings leading all rookies that playoffs in goals (7), points (14), and game-winning goals (2).
Toffoli struggled this past season after his breakthrough 2015-16 season. Toffoli missed significant time with a knee injury and only scored 16 goals. Toffoli’s signing along with Tanner Pearson was a top priority for the new front office of Robitaille and Blake.
By signing Toffoli before the July 1st start of Free Agency, Kings avoided closing their window on exclusive negotiations. Had Toffoli been left unsigned and other teams could have signed him away.
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With Toffoli and Pearson now signed along with veteran forward Jeff Carter, the Kings retain their popular scoring line know by fans a “That 70’s Line,” a play on words due to all the players having uniform numbers in the seventies.
By holding on to their priority pending free-agents the Kings will now be able to concentrate on the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Due to missing out on the playoffs the Kings will be picking 11th this year and will look to add depth to the roster.
The signing is also significant because the new front office was able to keep both for relatively inexpensive contracts having given both players approximately a 1.5 million raise, allowing to the team to maintain some salary cap flexibility.
The fact that the team signed both players quickly and before the free agency period means Kings fans can trust that Robitaille and Blake are up to the task of running the team and avoided contentious negotiations.
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For Los Angeles Kings fans, it looks like the team is in good hands so far and it remains to be seen if they can reverse some of the mistakes made by the previous regime and get them back to the elite of the NHL.