NHL Trade Grades: Jets add scorer they needed in trade with Devils

With the New Jersey Devils entering play on Friday six points out of a playoff spot with three teams to jump, they had a decision to make. They could've stood pat and hoped that with the talent on that roster, they would make a run at a playoff spot, or they could've sold pieces that they have to reload for next season.

When Toffoli was scratched for "trade-related reasons" ahead of Thursday's game against the Blues, it was pretty apparent that he was going to be dealt sometime before Friday's 3:00 PM EST deadline. There were several teams interested, but the Winnipeg Jets turned out to be the winners of the Toffoli sweepstakes.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported that the Devils and Jets were close on a Toffoli trade and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff came through with the details. Two draft picks were acquired for Toffoli.

NHL Trade Grades: Jets gear up for deep playoff run, acquire Devils leading goal scorer

The Jets have been pretty surprising this season, sitting at or towards the top of the Central Division for much of the campaign, and are going all in as a result. First, they acquired Sean Monahan in a trade with the Canadiens, and now they continue to bolster their top six by acquiring Toffoli, a 31-year-old pending UFA who was the leading goal scorer for the Devils.

Toffoli has 26 goals and 18 assists for 44 points in 61 games played. His 26 goals would be tied with Kyle Connor for first on Winnipeg, their only 20+ goal scorer. The Jets needed more offensive firepower as they rank tied for 17th in the NHL scoring 3.11 goals per game, and Toffoli should give that to them. The Jets will be Toffoli's sixth NHL team so fitting into a new home is nothing new to him.

Despite not having their 2024 first-round pick to trade, the Jets were able to get Toffoli, arguably the best winger available after the Jake Guentzel trade, for a second-round pick and a third-round pick. Really strong move for them.

The Devils acquired Toffoli this past offseason, trading Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick to the Flames. Sharangovich has broken out in a bigger role in Calgary, scoring 25 goals and putting up 45 points this season. It's hard to have envisioned Sharangovich performing at that level in New Jersey, but that trade certainly looks bad now. The Devils essentially traded Sharangovich for 61 games of Toffoli and a second-round pick when canceling out the thirds. Not great.

By trading Toffoli for a deal that did not include a first-round pick, that means that the Devils either had little interest or believed they had little shot at re-signing Toffoli this offseason. It's not a very good return at all for a player who will likely score over 30 goals this season, but when keeping in mind Jake Guentzel not bringing back a guaranteed first-round pick in his deal, it's hard to get on GM Tom Fitzgerald too much.

Trading Toffoli was the right move for this Devils team at this juncture. It's important that the Devils got something for Toffoli, but an argument can be made that they should've gotten more.

Winnipeg Jets Grade: A
New Jersey Devils Grade: C+