Kings' Toffoli on trade rumors: 'I definitely want to stay'

The Los Angeles Kings are stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference and pending unrestricted free agent Tyler Toffoli has had his name in plenty of trade rumours with the deadline steadily approaching.

And it hasn’t sat well with the 27-year-old.

“It definitely bothers me because I feel like I put a lot into the organization,” Toffoli told The Athletic on Monday. “At the end of the day, it’s a business. If they decide to move on from me, then that’s the way it is. I definitely want to stay here and be part of what their plan is and I feel like I’d be a really good person to be involved in that.”

Toffoli has been in the Kings organization since he was selected 47th-overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut during the 2012-13 season.

Despite the long history with the franchise, Toffoli knows that the way the Kings have been playing as of late, his position isn’t safe.

“Obviously when [Martin Jones] got traded that was a completely different circumstance,” he said. “With [Jake Muzzin] going and Tanner [Pearson] getting traded, it definitely puts things into a realization that anything can happen.”

Both Muzzin and Pearson were in the same position as Toffoli — a former draft pick that developed into a solid player in the NHL — and were traded just last year.

“It’s hard for just about everybody involved – young and old, management and coaching staff,” Kings’ head coach Todd MacLellan said.

“There are rumors out there. The one thing that I’ve learned is, the game doesn’t owe you anything. The human element exists in it. There are families. There are emotions. There is all that type of stuff. But the game goes on. It just goes on.”

Toffoli has scored 12 goals and 27 points in 47 games this season and might be playing his final weeks as a member of the Kings before his eventual move as a rental before the Feb. 24 trade deadline.

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