A season like this is tough to watch, and we all find ourselves being pretty hard on the Los Angeles Kings as they struggle to right the ship. For the rest of November, we’ll be taking some time each day to share why we’re thankful for each player on the team (and some Kings of years past). If you’d like to share your love for a Kings player, past or present, check out our call for submissions.
Yes, this post was supposed to be a two-for with Tanner Pearson.
After all, the two were pretty much linked together by coming up through the Kings at the same time, excelling as part of “That 70s Line” in the 2014 playoffs, and being best friends off the ice.
Yes, I had to rewrite this whole post. Yes, I’m still salty about it.
Alas.
Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli, a 2010 second round pick by the Kings, is by far the Kings’ most successful draft pick in recent memory who isn’t named Drew Doughty. The Kings’ success (or lack thereof) in drafting and developing (and not trading away) young players is a subject for a whole other post, but Toffoli comes out heads and shoulders above the rest.
Toffoli, along with Pearson, was one of the first Kings players who I found myself attached to, so if you ask me, I’m mostly thankful that Toffoli (and Pearson and Martin Jones) had the kind of fun, goofy personality that kept me engaged as I started to entertain the option of following other teams.
Our — and Jeff Carter’s — remaining son has just the kind of personality that transcends team loyalties, as one self-identified Maple Leafs fan reached out to me to say that she thought that Toffoli was “an angel”. We definitely agree on that one!
Of course, we can’t let this go on without mentioning Tyler’s (wife’s) dog, Dodger, who gathered some kudos of his own from reader Mads, who said, “Dodgey is so so small and Toff is very tall and it makes for very cute IG posts”. Tyler’s snuggle time with Dodger is most often captured on social media by his wife Cat, who knows exactly what the people want.
But we are, of course, a hockey blog, so we’ll also spend some time giving thanks to Tyler for his skill on the ice. His 31-goal season in 2015-16 showed exactly how good he can be, and while he’s still looking to replicate that success, he’s certainly still creating good times for all of us.
You’d think it’s hard to pick a highlight of Toffoli’s, but, nah, there’s really just one you all want to see. From a JFTC reader: “You remember that one time Tyler Toffoli scored with like 0.2 seconds left? That was sick.”
It sure as heck was.
Toffoli’s no stranger to highlight reel goals, either.
So, thanks, Tyler, for being a ton of fun on and off the ice!
Previously in our “Month” of Gratitude series: Kyle Clifford | Nate Thompson | Mike Amadio | Paul LaDue | Jake Muzzin | Alec Martinez | Peter Budaj | Cal Petersen | Ilya Kovalchuk | Trevor Lewis | Dustin Brown | Derek Forbort | Dion Phaneuf | Oscar Fantenberg | Adrian Kempe | Alex Iafallo | Matt Luff | Austin Wagner | Carl Hagelin