By making a trade on Valentine’s Day 2022 to acquire Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens, the Calgary Flames became one of the National Hockey League’s deepest teams.
The Flames were already a formidable opponent prior to the transaction. With its resurgent top line dominating on a regular basis and Darryl Sutter’s system clearly working, Calgary looked like a team that could make some noise down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Still, the Flames had some holes to patch. Neither Brett Ritchie nor Tyler Pitlick proved that they were capable of handling a top-nine role on a competitive team.