Tyler Toffoli feels that he was unlucky a number of times last season, with the puck not going in for him.
That’s not to say he didn’t rack up 19 goals. But after three straight seasons of 30+ goals, it was frustrating to not produce to the same level.
So he put in the work in the offseason, and is hoping the graph trends back up after this next season.
“19 goals in the NHL isn’t bad, I think a lot of guys would take that. I definitely worked – I don’t want to say any harder than usual – but I’m definitely a lot lighter than I have been in the past,” Toffoli said. “It’s year 15, and I’m just as excited as I was in year one. It was fun to get back out there, jump right in the scrimmage, and we’re off and running.”
Toffoli said he shed 13 pounds over the offseason. And after about a month working in San Jose, he’s ready for the start of the season.
Toffoli spoke about the expectations on the San Jose Sharks this season, new additions on defense, and more.
On how Macklin Celebrini handles pressure and attention…
I don’t think he’s necessarily going to change for anybody. He knows what he has to do and obviously did a great job with that last year. He has the right people around him that understand, have been through a lot that he’s about to go through and what he’s been going through. He’s been handling it great, and he’s continuing to have fun with it.
On how the San Jose Sharks are handling expectations this year…
We felt it a little bit last year when we went on some runs and people are like, “Oh, they’re going to make the playoffs. They’ve got a good chance.” Obviously Mack was doing what he was doing, and we obviously need him to continue to do that this year. Expectations are high everywhere. Everybody can say what they want to say, but we have to realize in here that we haven’t done anything yet. We have to continue to learn and understand that teams are going to be coming into SAP this year, and it’s not going to be easy.
On the key to becoming a playoff team…
We have to keep getting better and understand that we have some older guys coming in that can really help and maintain the pressure and the expectations in a sense and keep us as even keel as possible. But at the same time, when we’re riding high, that’s when we’re at our best and that’s when we roll.
On the additions of Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba…
I was very excited. Playing against both those guys, my whole career playing against Doc (Nurse) a lot when I was in Calgary, and just understanding how hard he is to play against, and the little things that he does that go unnoticed. To have those two on our team, it’s definitely one of those things that I was excited to see in the summer.
On whether he thought the San Jose Sharks could get to this point this correctly, when he first signed…
I was hopeful, but at the end of the day you have really no idea. And coming here, I knew that there was some really great young prospects and young talent in the organization, and those guys have already taken a step. There’s still guys that are going to continue to get better, and definitely excited to keep going and keep pushing.
Headline: Toffoli Got Lighter Over Summer, Talks Higher Expectations for Sharks
Tags: San Jose Sharks, Training Camp, featured, Tyler Toffoli, Macklin Celebrini, Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba,
Tyler Toffoli feels that he was unlucky a number of times last season, with the puck not going in for him.
That’s not to say he didn’t rack up 19 goals. But after three straight seasons of 30+ goals, it was frustrating to not produce to the same level.
So he put in the work in the offseason, and is hoping the graph trends back up after this next season.
“19 goals in the NHL isn’t bad, I think a lot of guys would take that. I definitely worked – I don’t want to say any harder than usual – but I’m definitely a lot lighter than I have been in the past,” Toffoli said. “It’s year 15, and I’m just as excited as I was in year one. It was fun to get back out there, jump right in the scrimmage, and we’re off and running.”
Toffoli said he shed 13 pounds over the offseason. And after about a month working in San Jose, he’s ready for the start of the season.
Toffoli spoke about the expectations on the San Jose Sharks this season, new additions on defense, and more.
On how Macklin Celebrini handles pressure and attention…
I don’t think he’s necessarily going to change for anybody. He knows what he has to do and obviously did a great job with that last year. He has the right people around him that understand, have been through a lot that he’s about to go through and what he’s been going through. He’s been handling it great, and he’s continuing to have fun with it.
On how the San Jose Sharks are handling expectations this year…
We felt it a little bit last year when we went on some runs and people are like, “Oh, they’re going to make the playoffs. They’ve got a good chance.” Obviously Mack was doing what he was doing, and we obviously need him to continue to do that this year. Expectations are high everywhere. Everybody can say what they want to say, but we have to realize in here that we haven’t done anything yet. We have to continue to learn and understand that teams are going to be coming into SAP this year, and it’s not going to be easy.
On the key to becoming a playoff team…
We have to keep getting better and understand that we have some older guys coming in that can really help and maintain the pressure and the expectations in a sense and keep us as even keel as possible. But at the same time, when we’re riding high, that’s when we’re at our best and that’s when we roll.
On the additions of Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba…
I was very excited. Playing against both those guys, my whole career playing against Doc (Nurse) a lot when I was in Calgary, and just understanding how hard he is to play against, and the little things that he does that go unnoticed. To have those two on our team, it’s definitely one of those things that I was excited to see in the summer.
On whether he thought the San Jose Sharks could get to this point this correctly, when he first signed…
I was hopeful, but at the end of the day you have really no idea. And coming here, I knew that there was some really great young prospects and young talent in the organization, and those guys have already taken a step. There’s still guys that are going to continue to get better, and definitely excited to keep going and keep pushing.