Tyler Toffoli

[Ziggy Stardust]

I still think he gets too much of a bad rap on skating. That dude has great hockey sense and he's probably the second best sniper right behind Carter *ALREADY*. Robitaille wasn't a good skater either. I think too many scouts look at skating. I'd take hockey sense and a wrist shot like he has any day of the week. The dude is just going to score goals. I think he's still pretty quick and he battles on the boards. And he's a friggin rookie! No way I trade this guy.

Seriously. This isn't a figure skating competition where he's judged on his skating. I don't care how he looks getting from Point A to Point B, especially when he has the skillset and set of hands that he has.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Call me crazy but I wouldn't mind seeing him in Manchester next season with the occasional call up.

Yeah, that's not happening. The Kings will have holes to fill in their lineup. In what way does it make sense where Toffoli starts next season in Manchester?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I still think he gets too much of a bad rap on skating. That dude has great hockey sense and he's probably the second best sniper right behind Carter *ALREADY*. Robitaille wasn't a good skater either. I think too many scouts look at skating. I'd take hockey sense and a wrist shot like he has any day of the week. The dude is just going to score goals. I think he's still pretty quick and he battles on the boards. And he's a friggin rookie! No way I trade this guy.

I think I said it in the prospect thread, but he skates fairly fast...he's just got a mechanically fugly stride. But you can't teach what he knows, while you can always continue to work on your skating and conditioning. At worst, he's an average skater, and that's fine by me if all the other components are there. He's like a baby Carter.

 

[Inner Turbulence]

It's only been a couple of games with Carter at Center, but I really like that line. You think it could be considered to go 3 deep at center with Kopitar-Carter-Richards ? It is possible to line up enough quality wingers it might be work considering. Brown-Williams-Toffoli-Lewis seems like good options. A bit "soft" for Kings' standards possibly. Maybe Stoll can play his aggressive forechecking-game on the wing, and get to use his shot more. Maybe Pearson ? Kozun ? Vey ? Trade Acquisition for Bernier ? Penner if cheap enough ?

Might give the team an interesting look for next year.

 

[yankeeking]

I think TT has been good, but lets not pretend like he hasn't made mistakes as well. Just his mistakes he has 100-200 feet to make up for. Muzzin/VV's end up in the back of the net or with a great chance.

I still think Muzzin projects so well that 90% of this board are gonna look like fools....

TT is looking nice, I wonder how they will find room for him next year...or if they go with a slightly more offensive third line. (shouldn't be hard )

as for muzzin I still go back to LARRY MURPHY this guy won 4 cups and was a great player and for those older among us was run out of this building by the boo birds, 90% probaboly never put skates on,that position is the hardest to play and takes time to develop, muzzin has played extremely well and will be a asset going forwarded hope he gets the time

 

[Sydor25]

as for muzzin I still go back to LARRY MURPHY this guy won 4 cups and was a great player and for those older among us was run out of this building by the boo birds, 90% probaboly never put skates on,that position is the hardest to play and takes time to develop, muzzin has played extremely well and will be a asset going forwarded hope he gets the time

Don't even have to go back that far, just look at Sydor. Kings fans ran him out of town and he won 2 cups. And is now a coach.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

as for muzzin I still go back to LARRY MURPHY this guy won 4 cups and was a great player and for those older among us was run out of this building by the boo birds, 90% probaboly never put skates on,that position is the hardest to play and takes time to develop, muzzin has played extremely well and will be a asset going forwarded hope he gets the time

It was before I was a fan, but I was told that Larry was run out of town because he wouldn't fight more than because of ability

 

[bmr]

I think I said it in the prospect thread, but he skates fairly fast...he's just got a mechanically fugly stride. But you can't teach what he knows, while you can always continue to work on your skating and conditioning. At worst, he's an average skater, and that's fine by me if all the other components are there. He's like a baby Carter.

Honestly, i've never really paid much attention in detail to his skating. I do know that he's beaten several guys to pucks..so he has to be doing something right. I keep going back to that goal he scored against Chicago earlier in the season in that 5-4 win. That release is so friggin incredible. We haven't had snipers like this in a looong time on our team. I think Tyler plays with the big club all next year and I would be surprised if he didn't get over 25 goals. I hesitate to play him with Carter, though. I think it would be good to mix up the lines next year. It's good to have a big banger, setup man and a finisher. Carter and Toffoli have done well together, though.

I think the big reason Pearson, Vey and Toffoli do so well is that Pearson is the banger/front of net guy, Vey sets up plays and Toffoli finishes. That's a good line combination.

I'd like to see Williams/Kopitar/Toffoli and Carter/Richards/Brown next year...

 

[damacles1156]

Honestly, i've never really paid much attention in detail to his skating. I do know that he's beaten several guys to pucks..so he has to be doing something right. I keep going back to that goal he scored against Chicago earlier in the season in that 5-4 win. That release is so friggin incredible. We haven't had snipers like this in a looong time on our team. I think Tyler plays with the big club all next year and I would be surprised if he didn't get over 25 goals. I hesitate to play him with Carter, though. I think it would be good to mix up the lines next year. It's good to have a big banger, setup man and a finisher. Carter and Toffoli have done well together, though.

I think the big reason Pearson, Vey and Toffoli do so well is that Pearson is the banger/front of net guy, Vey sets up plays and Toffoli finishes. That's a good line combination.

I'd like to see Williams/Kopitar/Toffoli and Carter/Richards/Brown next year...

J-Dub is not a LW, Never will be.

Toffoli will be a second line player as long as J-Dub is here.

 

[bmr]

J-Dub is not a LW, Never will be.

Toffoli will be a second line player as long as J-Dub is here.

I would try Toffoli on the LW on the first line if he can adapt. Kopi will pot MANY assists with that guy, trust me. If there's any chemistry at all on that line it would be magical. I think Brown on the 2nd line makes perfect sense also.

 

[etherialone]

I would try Toffoli on the LW on the first line if he can adapt. Kopi will pot MANY assists with that guy, trust me. If there's any chemistry at all on that line it would be magical. I think Brown on the 2nd line makes perfect sense also.

I would try TT on D or at C if he could adapt and play as well as he does at RW. TT can't play LW. Its been tried and failed. Now maybe with the coaching he will receive with the Kings they can make him adapt but then imagine what would have happened had people forced 99 to be a W instead of C.

Some players can adapt and play all over the ice and some can't. TT just can't do it with anywhere near the same level of proficiency as he can playing RW and why would we want to force a player to play a position that lessens his abilities?

I wouldn't even mess with the kid. He is a RW. I would just leave him there and let his play make a spot for him somewhere.

 

[BigBrown]

Yeah, that's not happening. The Kings will have holes to fill in their lineup. In what way does it make sense where Toffoli starts next season in Manchester?

The Kings have holes but not on right wing and I'm not so keen on shoehorning a player to a wing where he might not be comfortable. If he's to switch wing and he's not an instant success I'd prefer for him to work out the kinks in Manchester instead of putting him in a high pressure situation that could leave him without confidence. And if he's not to switch wing then, unless we move Carter to center, there simply isn't room for him and he can continue his growth in Manchester until we flip Williams to make room for him.

Basically I just don't want him to be put in an unfavorable situation and fail.

 

[damacles1156]

I would try TT on D or at C if he could adapt and play as well as he does at RW. TT can't play LW. Its been tried and failed. Now maybe with the coaching he will receive with the Kings they can make him adapt but then imagine what would have happened had people forced 99 to be a W instead of C.

Some players can adapt and play all over the ice and some can't. TT just can't do it with anywhere near the same level of proficiency as he can playing RW and why would we want to force a player to play a position that lessens his abilities?

I wouldn't even mess with the kid. He is a RW. I would just leave him there and let his play make a spot for him somewhere.

Exactly ^^^^^^^,

I am not trying to pick on people, but this kind of crap infuriates me...

Did Kings Fan's learn any lessons from Loki ? The Kings Coaching staff did.

Stop trying to put Square pegs into round holes.

J-Dub is a RW, Toffoli is a RW. Toffoli doesn't have to play with Kopitar.

Kopitar is already a perennial 45 to 50 assist player, he doesn't need Toffoli to be that.

If anything I would encourage Kopitar to shake this pass first mentality

The Kings need Kopitar scoring goals too, Kopitar needs to be a guy that pots 30+G a season. Kopitar hasn't scored a PP Goal since March of 2012.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

There's a reason why Luc Robitaille always played LW in his career. Did you see Hull be shifted from RW to LW? Or Selanne, or Palffy? No, because they stuck with what made them successful scoring wingers, just as we are seeing with Justin Williams who has always been a RW and the same will be said about Toffoli when he finds success in the NHL.

 

[northernKing]

Exactly ^^^^^^^,

I am not trying to pick on people, but this kind of crap infuriates me...

Did Kings Fan's learn any lessons from Loki ? The Kings Coaching staff did.

Stop trying to put Square pegs into round holes.

J-Dub is a RW, Toffoli is a RW. Toffoli doesn't have to play with Kopitar.

Kopitar is already a perennial 45 to 50 assist player, he doesn't need Toffoli to be that.

If anything I would encourage Kopitar to shake this pass first mentality

The Kings need Kopitar scoring goals too, Kopitar needs to be a guy that pots 30+G a season. Kopitar hasn't scored a PP Goal since March of 2012.

I agree. Kopitar needs to be more of a goal scoring center like Eric Staal. His playmaking is top notch but often Kopitar seems to force passes instead of taking open shots. Granted its probably his unselfish nature but he needs to fire the puck!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

While I've been adamant that Toffoli is a natural RW, it appears that the Kings may continue to experiment with Toffoli as a 2nd line LW next season. If everyone save for the UFA forwards from last season return, the Kings will have a hole to fill on the 2nd line LW position, and judging from what is being said by Sutter and what was brought up by Jim Fox in the final post game show, it appears that Toffoli will be groomed to be that 2nd line LW.

http://lakingsinsider.com/2013/06/11/interesting-off-season-lies-ahead-for-toffoli/

“I think that’s something that’s up to them,” Toffoli said. “Wherever they put me, I’ll play and play the most I can. So I think we’ll see what they say and we’ll see what happens next season.”

http://lakingsinsider.com/2013/04/12/ahls-top-rookie-bound-for-a-position-switch/

“When we brought him up, we weren’t trying to force him into anything, and it’s what we said,” Darryl Sutter said. “Because of the schedule, we need lots of guys and one thing I know going forward with him, just because the way our positions stack up, he’s going to have to be a more versatile player in terms of position-wise, because his primary position is right wing, and that’s going to be a tough place for him to play when you have Willie and Jeff ahead of him at right wing, and Lewie’s got a good role on our team.

He’s going to have a hard time not being any more than what we are right now on a good team, and I’ve talked to him about it. He hasn’t played much left wing, but he’s played a lot of center. Usually good players in Canada on kids teams play center, right? So we’re going to have to do some work with him on that this summer and go from there.”

A compilation of Toffoli's goals with the Ottawa 67's:


He seemingly scores from everywhere on the ice, but from what we saw of him in the pros, it appeared obvious to me that Toffoli performed better and was more comfortable when playing RW as opposed to LW. I guess if he expects to make the team out of camp, he has to get adjusted to making the switch over to LW as the current plan is to have him start at that position on a line with Richards and Carter.

Highlights of Toffoli's goals in the NHL:








If the Kings do plan on converting Toffoli to a LW, I would hope that it is something he starts working on over the summer before he gets to camp.

 

[bmr]

If Toffoli sucks at LW, then we just have to figure out how to adjust the lines. Has Carter played LW? Boy, I sure do like the idea of adding a LW or two in the offseason

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Assume the Kings sign no free agents and go with what they have (not bringing Penner or Richardson back). Their lineup would look like this:

Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Toffoli-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Clifford-Fraser-Nolan

That would be with 12 forwards and no scratches. Now if the Kings do add a top six LW, then that is going to force Toffoli or someone else in the top six to drop down to the third line.

I have a feeling that we may see the Kings opt to just promote players internally rather than bringing in a free agent. Now they could acquire a LW in a trade involving Bernier, but I am thinking that a couple of high draft picks is what the Kings will end up with when they move Bernier.

 

[Whiskeypete]

from Rosen's article

In other words, there does appear to be an effort over the summer and come training camp to get Toffoli more acclimated to playing on the left side.

......prepare for the great LW experiment version 2. Loktionov, fail. Toffoli, ?

will the day ever come that they stop jockeying guys around trying to resolve this? quit *** around with these guys that have played a specific lane for how many years, only to flip them. some guys have the ability to do this, but it's noted this has been tried before and he failed. he failed against lesser competition, why expect the kid to suddenly 'get it' at the highest level.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
-Albert Einstein

I don't like this at all.

It is also an indication they aren't willing to try the 11-77-10-28 line combos, which would dramatically change the style and tempo they play. Instead of rolling three #1 lines essentially creating a nightmare for opposing teams, they are content to change nothing in an attempt to improve the team.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

Assume the Kings sign no free agents and go with what they have (not bringing Penner or Richardson back). Their lineup would look like this:

Brown-Kopitar-Williams
Toffoli-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Lewis
Clifford-Fraser-Nolan

That would be with 12 forwards and no scratches. Now if the Kings do add a top six LW, then that is going to force Toffoli or someone else in the top six to drop down to the third line.

I have a feeling that we may see the Kings opt to just promote players internally rather than bringing in a free agent. Now they could acquire a LW in a trade involving Bernier, but I am thinking that a couple of high draft picks is what the Kings will end up with when they move Bernier.

I personally dont see him being tried at lw as tg said hes has been tried in the past and not looked good. Why screw with him did we not learn with lokti ? the kings imo will look like this next year without trades.

Brown kopitar williams
pearson ricards carter
clifford stoll toffolli
andreoff vey lewis

king nolan

 

[Peter James Bond]

Maybe is a bit to early to have huge expectations for next season from Toffoli? He is having similar run as for example King in last year SC run. Now with much higher expectations he is having problems.

I don't have any doubts he'll have huge role at LA Kings in future (if he stays healthy), but for next year, when opponents will know him better and adjust to his play, I wouldn't put to big pressure on him.

No, it is not too early. Comparing Toffoli and King, via production is not valid. Comparing their abilities is the way to compare the 2. Toffoli has tremendous hockey sense, vision, ability to create plays, a wicked shot in which he can pick corners and can score anywhere on the ice, within 40 feet of the goal. Dwight King is an up and down winger, with limited hockey sense, limited overall skills, and has no creativity to his game. He rarely, if ever, (in the NHL) has scored a goal 15+ feet out. Dwight is not a bad player...he is just an average, 3rd or 4th liner. There is nothing wrong with that. I hope Dwight works harder on his skating and they tell him he must play tougher - I cannot recall the last time he knocked someone on their a$$. At his size, he should be. Is it imperative to just take guys out, by flattening them? Yeah, somewhat. It drives fear into the opposition and can take them off of their game fast. Back to Tyler Toffoli...he should be one of the top 2 RWs and if that means Carter goes to Center or even LW, you do it.

 

[koncepts]

It is also an indication they aren't willing to try the 11-77-10-28 line combos, which would dramatically change the style and tempo they play. Instead of rolling three #1 lines essentially creating a nightmare for opposing teams, they are content to change nothing in an attempt to improve the team.

Strap Toffoli to Carter's belt strap for the entire summer, that should get him going on the right foot. Then put them together and put them on a line.

Brown/Kopitar/Williams
Pearson/Penner/FA/TRADE/???/Carter/Toffoli
Clifford/Richards/Lewis
Andreoff/Stoll/Nolan
Richardson/Fraser

King has to go... he is worthless imo

 

[HolyShot*]

No, it is not too early. Comparing Toffoli and King, via production is not valid. Comparing their abilities is the way to compare the 2. Toffoli has tremendous hockey sense, vision, ability to create plays, a wicked shot in which he can pick corners and can score anywhere on the ice, within 40 feet of the goal. Dwight King is an up and down winger, with limited hockey sense, limited overall skills, and has no creativity to his game. He rarely, if ever, (in the NHL) has scored a goal 15+ feet out. Dwight is not a bad player...he is just an average, 3rd or 4th liner. There is nothing wrong with that. I hope Dwight works harder on his skating and they tell him he must play tougher - I cannot recall the last time he knocked someone on their a$$. At his size, he should be. Is it imperative to just take guys out, by flattening them? Yeah, somewhat. It drives fear into the opposition and can take them off of their game fast. Back to Tyler Toffoli...he should be one of the top 2 RWs and if that means Carter goes to Center or even LW, you do it.

King has great hockey sense. Its just his hands.

 

[Thrice]

Am I the only one who remembers Terry Murray forcing a natural RW, Teddy Purcell, onto the LW, watching him fail and ultimately causing DL to give him away for next to nothing?

Let Toffoli play RW.

 

[Telos]

I would get used to the idea of Toffoli being a left wing.

Am I the only one who remembers Terry Murray forcing a natural RW, Teddy Purcell, onto the LW, watching him fail and ultimately causing DL to give him away for next to nothing?

Let Toffoli play RW.

He plays either side for Tampa still.