The Winnipeg Jets’ two 2024 Trade Deadline additions are set to make their debuts tonight (March 11) in Winnipeg against the Washington Capitals.
Related: Jets’ Strong Deadline Has Them All in for Stretch Run
Get to know the pair of players who join an already-talented club for the stretch run.
Who is Tyler Toffoli?
Toffoli — who Jets’ general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff acquired from the New Jersey Devils for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick — is a veteran scoring right winger who was one of the biggest pieces of trade bait by the time the March 8 deadline rolled around.
The 31-year-old has notched 253 goals and 257 assists for 510 career points in 794 career games. He had 26 goals and 18 assists for 44 points in 61 games for the Devils this season, his first with the club that entered the campaign considered a Stanley Cup contender but has disappointed. The Devils acquired him in a trade from the Calgary Flames last summer.
Toffoli was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings 47th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and played 515 games for the Kings over eight seasons. Between his time with the Kings and Devils, he had stints in Vancouver with the Canucks, Montreal with the Canadiens, and in Calgary with the Flames. His career-best season was last season with the Flames, when he racked up 34 goals and added 39 assists for 73 points in 82 games.
Toffoli is also a proven playoff performer, which should benefit a club such as the Jets who don’t have many players with a ton of playoff experience but are all-in on a Stanley Cup run as they sit second in the Central Division and have won 40 games already. Toffoli — who in 88 career playoff games, has 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points and won the Cup with the Kings in 2013-14 — joins Laurent Brossoit as the only current Jet to have hoisted Lord Stanley’s Mug. Also, with the Canadiens in the 2022 playoffs, he scored the Game-Four overtime winner that completed the Habs’ second-round sweep of the Jets.
Toffoli also has built-in familiarity with a few of his new teammates in Winnipeg. He played with Alex Iafallo and Gabriel Vilardi with the Kings, while he played with fellow recent-Jets-addition Sean Monahan with the Flames and in the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67s. (The pair were roommates in juniors, in fact.) He is considered a shoot-first guy with a ton of intelligence and a nose for the net.
“He’s got a little clutch factor in him,” centre Mark Scheifele said after the Jets acquired Toffoli. “He scores big goals. He knows the areas to go to score. He’s got a knack for that. He’s got an unbelievable shot, a guy that battles, a guy that goes to all of the right areas, chips the puck out, does all of the right things that you need on a winning team. To bring in a guy that’s won and had success in this league, is huge.” (From ‘Jets trade for proven goal-scorer Toffoli, defenceman Miller,’ Winnipeg Free Press, March 8, 2024.)
Toffoli is on the final year of a four-year contract he inked with the Canadiens in 2020 that carries a $4.25 million average annual value (AAV) and will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA) this summer. The Devils agreed to retain 50 per cent of his salary in the deal.
Who is Colin Miller?
Miller, acquired a few hours after Toffoli from the Devils in a separate trade for a 2026 fourth-round pick, is right-handed blue liner who will bolster the Jets’ defensive depth.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Miller had four goals and four assists for eight points to go along with 79 hits and 33 blocked shots in 41 games for the Devils this season and like Toffoli, was in his first season with the club. The 31-year-old is a veteran of 507 career games and has recorded 39 goals and 126 assists for 165 points between the Devils, Dallas Stars, Buffalo Sabres, Vegas Golden Knights, and Boston Bruins.
Miller, originally selected 51st overall by the Kings in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, is noted for having an absolute bomb of a shot from the point and as a decent puck mover who can play on the power play and penalty kill. He is in the final year of a two-year deal that carries a $1.85 million AAV and will be a UFA this summer.
“He has a lot of playoff experience. He has a good shot, he moves really well, he’s got that experience, he’s got that pedigree,” Cheveldayoff said in a post-deadline media availability (From ‘Jets make deals with Devils,’ Winnipeg Free Press, March 8, 2024.’
Miller has played 40 career playoff games, recording four goals and eight assists for 12 points. He was part of the Golden Knights’ squad that eliminated the Jets in the 2018 Western Conference Final.
What Roles Will Toffoli and Miller Play?
The Jets have played two games since acquiring the pair, but since the team was on the West Coast and playing a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, the logistics of getting them there were too daunting. Instead, the players came straight to Winnipeg.
Going forward, Toffoli is most likely to slot in as the second-line right winger alongside Nikolaj Ehlers and Monahan. Alex Iafallo has skated on that line recently due to Cole Perfetti’s struggles and demotion to the fourth line, but Iafallo — who has 21 points this season — is better deployed in a shutdown role than a scoring one.
Miller, who joins a defensive core that’s been stingy overall this season but has shown some cracks as of late, should either replace Neal Pionk on the second pairing with Brenden Dillion — thereby bumping Pionk down to the third pairing with Dylan Samberg — or simply replace Nate Schmidt/Logan Stanley on the third pairing with Samberg.
However, we won’t find out exact deployment until later today at head coach Rick Bowness’ pre-game media availability ahead of the team’s clash with the Capitals at Canada Life Centre. Both Toffoli and Miller will be looking to make a positive impression on their new club that played what Bowness called “the worst game” he’d seen in his two years behind the bench; on Saturday night against the Canucks, the Jets lost 5-0 in a lifeless effort.
