Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli is a third-line winger with second-unit power-play time on a Sharks team built around its young core, and the lines have been changing from game to game.
Role
Recent projected lines (Inside the Rink, Oct 20 to 24) put him on the third line with Mason Marchment, alongside Alexander Wennberg on Oct 20 and Collin Graf on Oct 22 and 24. San Jose Hockey Now (checked about Oct 25) has him at third-line right wing, with Ty Dellandrea at center and Marchment at left wing. It also says he moved to left wing on Oct 23 and back to right wing on Oct 24. Inside the Rink has him on the second power-play unit with Kiefer Sherwood, Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov, and ESPN's page also lists him on PP2. The first unit is built around Celebrini, Will Smith, Stenberg, Orlov and Marchment. I found no ice-time figures for this season. The Morning Puck page, indexed about 8 days ago, showed him at 12:18 in one game. I did not fetch it, so I can't date that game or say whether it is typical. He is listed as C in our data but is being deployed on the wing.
He stays on the second power-play unit and plays beside Marchment and Graf. A veteran with a Stanley Cup who scores goals is a role the coaching staff has praised before. Last season's line shows 4 power-play points in 12 games and 27 shots, so the shot volume was there when he played. Preseason, one Sharks blogger sketched lineups with him on the second line next to Misa. That has not happened in the lines I found.
He has dropped from the top six into a bottom-six role, and the third line keeps getting reshuffled. His linemates have changed from game to game and he has moved between wings. Preseason pieces already called a fourth-line stint possible, and one said he might have to play there. The first power-play unit is full of younger players, so his power-play work is second-unit only. Last season he played just 12 games, so there is little recent evidence of his production. I did not find why he played so few.
Where analysts split
The question is whether he gets back into the top six, specifically a second line with Misa, or settles as a third-line winger on the second power-play unit. The sources I found disagree on his line and linemates but not on his general tier. I found no beat-writer or Athletic argument about it, only line projections and a preseason blog.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at C
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