Tyler Toffoli Knows The Role He Must Play In New Jersey

Tyler Toffoli was recently named the NHL’s First Stars in their Stars of The Week (October 23-29). Tampa Bay goaltender Jonas Johansson (second star) and Minnesota Wild winger Ryan Hartman (third star) followed behind him. It’s been evident that Toffoli has been great so far with the New Jersey Devils and has a lot of good momentum going his way. This past week, he led the NHL with six goals in four games. He also scored a hat trick on October 24th against the Montreal Canadiens. It was his first hat trick since January 20, 2021, when he was playing for the Canadiens ironically.

To add to that, Toffoli has also been creating good looks for himself in the slot, is currently tied for first for most power-play goals on the team (alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt), and has formed great chemistry with his linemates (Timo Meier and Hughes). Ever since Meier was brought up to the Toffoli and Hughes line, his production has steadily improved. He is currently on a five-game point streak.

After he was acquired via trade over the summer, a lot of people were wondering how Toffoli could help contribute to the Devils’ already stacked top-six unit. Pucks and Pitchforks had the chance to ask him his expectations heading into the season a while back.

"“I’m a guy with a lot more experience coming into the locker room,” Toffoli said. “If you look at the way the team is set up, there are so many good young players and a lot of young talent. Hopefully, I can come in, fit in, and not step on anybody’s toes. Just play and build off what the guys did in the locker room last season.”"

Check out the full discussion on an episode of Locked On Devils below:

Toffoli is well aware of what type of role that he needs to bring within the locker room. He’s been on a Stanley Cup-winning team before (Los Angeles Kings 2014) and was a part of the Canadiens team that became Western Conference Champions in 2021. As a result, he has gelled quite nicely so far. That carries a lot of weight especially with the Devils still being one of the youngest teams in the NHL.

"“You see the potential,” Toffoli explained. “So, it’s just a matter of putting everything together. I hope that I’m just another piece to the puzzle and can do some pretty special things here.”"

Despite his career-year performance last season with Calgary, some naysayers were saying that the Devils lost too many assets during the offseason, and didn’t add that much significance. However, Toffoli currently has earned himself 10 points alone compared to Damon Severson, Tomas Tatar, Yegor Sharangovich, Miles Wood, Ryan Graves, and Jesper Boqvist who have all combined for 11 points up to this point.