Devils Scratch Tyler Toffoli, What it Means

NEWARK — The New Jersey Devils are scratching Tyler Toffoli for trade-related reasons against the St. Louis Blues, according to interim head coach Travis Green.

Green cited the scratch as “trade deadline precautionary reasons.” No one else will be scratched for those purposes. Ondrej Palat will return to the lineup against the Blues.

The decision is one of quite a few difficult decisions general manager Tom Fitzgerald had to make this week. First, he fired former head coach Lindy Ruff. Now, he’s potentially moving on from the Devils’ leading goal scorer in exchange for assets.

In the same press conference in which Fitzgerald addressed firing Ruff, he also explained he wasn’t shopping Toffoli. He added, however, that teams have certainly expressed their interest in the veteran forward.

“I’m not shopping Tyler Toffoli,” Fitzgerald said. “Tyler and I sat together in L.A. [during the Devils’ road trip last week], we had a great talk. Tyler knows how much I’d like to bring him back. But unfortunately right now there’s a possible term difference [in negotiation]. That doesn’t mean we can’t revisit this past the deadline if he’s still there, or in the offseason.

“But the reality is, teams have called on him. And what a return looks like, I wouldn’t be giving away a player, my leading scorer, just to gain future assets. But the reality is, those future assets could help us down the road. I’ll know more in the next three days where we’re at.”

According to reports, teams such as the Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Los Angeles Kings, among others are interested in the Devils’ winger.

Toffoli (31) is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $4.25 million cap hit. He is the Devils’ leading goal scorer, netting 26 in 61 games. Toffoli accrued a total of 44 points

The Devils acquired Toffoli last summer in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and the 80th overall pick in the 2023 draft (Aydar Suniev).

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