Toffoli: I Hope I'm Another Piece of the Puzzle | FEATURE

Tyler Toffoli and his wife Cat were walking back from a trip to the Farmers Market when the phone rang.

He had a feeling it would.

"I was kind of telling (my wife), I felt like something was going to be going on today," the newest Devil said in his opening press conference, "And obviously it finally came, and you know, things kind of started moving pretty quickly."

Toffoli, who was Video: Welcome to Jersey Tyler Toffoli had time for a brief call with his new general manager Tom Fitzgerald. And although brief, it left Toffoli with little doubt as to why he was a trade target by the Devils.

The 31-year-old is a veteran of 733 NHL games and has seen almost everything, including winning a Stanley Cup in 2015. Toffoli is a valued veteran who has won. His leadership will be vital as the Devils continue to build off of last season's success.

"That was honestly one of the first things (Fitzgerald) said when we had our conversation," Toffoli shared from his home in California, "It was really good, and short and sweet because there's got to be a lot of stuff going on and moving parts. But he said that he was excited to have me and for me to bring my leadership and having won the Stanley Cup and all those things, and that's what he's trying to bring into the locker room."

"That's something that I take pride in," he continued, "I try to help lead the guys and obviously not step on anybody's toes, but just go in there and play my best and whenever there's something that might need to be said, I'm not going to have a problem stepping up and doing that."

His leadership qualities were fostered as a young player in the league, winning the Stanley Cup with the L.A. Kings in 2014, his rookie season. There he entered a locker room with players around him like Mike Richards, Justin Williams, Jarret Stoll and Anze Kopitar to name a few, and together accomplished the ultimate hockey goal, and is aware he is now in their shoes and hopes to be able to have a similar impact.

"I'm a guy with a lot more experience coming in the locker room," he said, "and if you look at the way the team set up, there's so many good young players and a lot of young, young talent so hopefully I can just come in and fit in and not step on anybody's toes and just build off of what the guys in the locker room did last season."

That's also a reason why Toffoli is excited about his next hockey chapter in New Jersey. With what the Devils did last season, it's clear to Toffoli that this is a team built to compete and with a taste of the Cup in his rookie since and without it since, wants to win again and has a feeling this could be a group to make a push.

"You just kind of see their record (last season) and the score of games," he noted, "you look at it and you see the potential. It's a matter of just putting everything together."

Playing in the Western Conference the last two seasons, Toffoli isn't all that familiar with the intricacies of the Devils, the Flames and Devils playing just twice a year. But what Toffoli does know is that it is a team overflowing with talent and a team he believes he can help get to the next stage.

"Just a ton of skill," Toffoli shared, "They have dynamic players everywhere on the ice and there's times during the games, both times (with Calgary) where it felt like we didn't really have a whole lot of possession. It was almost like a bunch of the guys on Jersey had the puck on their stick and it was on a string (…) I definitely thought it was difficult (to play against) and definitely happy to be joining it now."

"I think New Jersey is a team that's up on the rise and a team it's an exciting time," he added, "I hope that I'm just another piece of the puzzle and can do some pretty special things here."