NHL Rising Stars: Devon Toews

There are so many talented players on different teams that simply go unnoticed due to the noticeability of other star players on that team. Devon Toews, a defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche is a prime example of this. The Avalanche have many young talents like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Toews’ defense partner, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nazem Kadri just to name a few. Toews is on the lower side of noticeable players on the Avalanche, hence the reason I chose him over Cale Makar for this NHL Rising Stars blog post, because Toews was a late bloomer, and was passed over twice in the NHL Entry Draft before being drafted by the New York Islanders in 2014 compared to Cale Makar, who had that talent from a very young age compared to Makar and was drafted 4th overall in his first year of eligibility. It hasn’t been an easy path to the big leagues for the 28-year-old Abbotsford product, but I think he’s found his place as a regular in the Avalanche lineup.

Toews, a left-shot defenseman from Abbotsford, British Columbia, is many things: a tenacious two-way defenseman, a penalty killer, and just an amazing hockey player overall. He’s a very quick skater with exceptional passing and skating skills and is also great at surveying where the puck is going to be and how to put it in the net. His wrist shot and wraparounds are unpredictable; it can look like he’s aiming for the high left corner of the net but really he’s set on the bottom right corner. The 28-year-old has definitely had more value as a member of the Avalanche because I don’t really think he meant much to the New York Islanders based on both Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello and Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic’s statements about the then-26-year-old defenseman (Lamoriello’s made it sound like he could care less about Toews’ departure, but Joe Sakic included in his statement that he was excited to welcome Toews to their defense). I compare Devon Toews to Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point because they were both late bloomers in terms of skill development and were considerably late picks in terms of the talent we see in the NHL today.

I think that I should mention that Devon Toews went from playing single-A hockey to playing in the NHL over the span of 10 years, which is something I thought I should highlight because not many people who play single-A hockey end up making it to the American Hockey League (AHL) let alone the NHL, the top professional hockey league in the world. It all began in the 2008-09 season, Toews’ 15-year-old season. He went into his season with the Abbotsford Hawks U15 A1 team not regarded as the highest of talents, but he quickly proved everyone wrong, recording 64 points (8 goals, 56 assists) in 61 games. That’s almost a point per game, which was proved later on in Toews’ career that averaging 2 points per game is pretty hard for anyone, even guys like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, two of the best in the hockey world.

The next season, Toews, nearly 16, would head into his first season of playing triple-A hockey. He earned a spot on the Fraser Valley Bruins U18 triple-A team and eventually would turn out to be the only player on the 2009-10 and the second to make it to the NHL from the 2010-11 roster, the first being Vegas Golden Knights star defenseman Shea Theodore, who is a year younger than Toews. The young defenseman ended the season with 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 39 games with the Bruins, which was a let-down for the 16-year-old defenseman but would get back on track in his second year with the Bruins. Along with playing for the Bruins, Toews spent some time with the Yale Secondary Lions Blue, now Yale Hockey Academy Lions, where he played in 3 games, recording 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists). Which meant Toews was averaging almost 4 points per game, which is pretty much impossible at any level past the U15 age category.

Toews got back on track for the 2010-11 season after his stunning performance with Yale Secondary after the Bruins’ season ended and would go on to accumulate a total of 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 39 games bringing home the BC Elite Hockey League U18 (BCEHL U18) Most Points by Defensemen award, which acknowledged Devon’s development as a defenseman. Toews would again spend time with Yale Secondary after the season ended in which he played alongside teammate Shea Theodore and former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen. The list of places Toews played during the 2010-11 season doesn’t end here. He also played 5 games with the Abbotsford Pilots of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PIJHL), recording 2 points; a goal and an assist respectively.

The next season, Devon Toews moved up to the British Columbia Hockey League, which is where many players go in hopes of being recruited by NCAA teams, due to the fact that a good majority of NCAA players come from the BCHL (which is still relevant 10 years later). Toews signed on with the Surrey Eagles, which would be the then-17-year-old's first time playing outside of Abbotsford. Toews would go on to play in 54 games, recording 29 points (7 goals,22 assists), and would be named to the BCHL’s all-rookie team at the end of the season.

Toews went on to play in one more season with the Eagles, where he was recruited by Quinnipiac University to play hockey for their team, which at the time was jam-packed full of talent (much like the current Quinnipiac team). But before Toews began his tenure at Quinnipiac, he had the rest of his final season with the Surrey Eagles, where he went on to record 47 points (10 goals, 37 assists) in 48 games. The Eagles had an amazing season, winning the BCHL championship, and finishing third in the 2013 RBC Cup tournament, losing to the runner-up Summerside Western Capitals, a team from Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Toews won the RBC Cup Best Defenseman Award, along with a handful of BCHL awards (Top Defenseman and First All-Star Team). You could say that Toews had the year of his life that season.

The next year, Toews finally joined the talented Quinnipiac University Bobcats, who had recently made it to the Frozen Four but lost to Yale University in the final 4-0, which was the start of the rivalry between Quinnipiac and Yale. Coming into the 2013-14 season, Quinnipiac was chocked full of talented players like St. Louis Blues prospects Sam Anas and Matthew Peca, former Islanders prospects Connor and Kellen Jones (twins), and Boston Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton. Toews fit right in at Quinnipiac, playing 37 games, recording 17 points (1 goal, 16 assists). After the season ended, Toews anxiously waited for his name to be called; an excitement that had ended in disappointment in the past 2 years of his draft eligibility, but with the 108th pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Islanders selected Devon Toews. What seemed unlikely for Toews became a reality.

The next season wasn’t the greatest for Toews, as he played in less games than he did in the previous year. However, he did do better on the scoring front as he recorded 4 goals along with 16 assists in 31 games, which made for a total of 20 points. Quinnipiac did decent considering they lost the Jones twins, who were a key part of the Bobcats, but with an elite player like Devon Toews, how could you not do well?

In the fall of 2015, Toews entered his third and final season with Quinnipiac, which was a very special one. The Bobcats were filled with young talent and with the addition of Chase Priskie, a prospect for the Florida Panthers. The Bobcats may have lost Matthew Peca, but this was Devon’s time to shine. In his final season with Quinnipiac, Toews played in 40 games, recording 30 points (7 goals, 23 assists) and in the end, Quinnipiac ended up winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship (the Whitelaw Cup), however, they lost in the finals of the Frozen Four to University of North Dakota. Toews was also named to the Secocond All-Star Team and the Division I All-Star team.d All-Star Team and the Division I All-Star team.

The next season, Toews, now a Quinnipiac graduate, enters his first season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he is reunited with teammates Connor and Kellen Jones. In 76 games with the Sound Tigers, Toews recorded 45 points (5 goals, 40 assists). Not bad for a rookie in the AHL I must say. Devon also brought home the Most Rookie Assists award, played in the AHL all-star game (as a rookie!!!) and was named to the AHL all-rookie team. Since then, Toews hasn’t won any other awards, but let’s hope that he can add a Stanley Cup to that collection!

In the 2017-18 season, Toews has a rough season. In 30 games (which was unusual for the talented defenseman) he accumulated 22 points (8 goals and 14 assists), which isn’t bad, but the number of games played was definitely not ideal.

The next season, Toews would split between the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the New York Islanders, an exciting opportunity for the 24-year-old defenseman. With the Sound Tigers, Toews played in 24 games, recording 19 points (5 goals, 14 assists) and 48 games with the Islanders, where he recorded 18 points (5 goals and 13 assists).

After the 2018-19 season, Toews made the jump to the NHL to play full-time for the Islanders, which made for his 1st full NHL season (2018-19 was really only a half-season). He ended up playing in 68 games, recording 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists) and then COVID-19 ended the season, for the 25-year-old defenseman who was just trying to figure out the ropes of the NHL.

During the free agency period, Toews, a restricted free agent chose to arbitrate his contract with the Islanders, which resulted in a trade that sent him to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a couple of draft picks. This trade turned out to be beneficial for the Colorado Avalanche, as it led to a deeper defense core. New York didn’t seem to care about the departure of Toews, but Colorado welcomed him with open arms, which was great to see because Toews should never have let Lou Lamoriello trade him for picks and picks only. That would never slide with Toews today because he’s simply too good for the Avalanche to get nothing in exchange for him if he were to be traded again

The 2020-21 season was an odd one for Toews because of the way the NHL was set up in terms of COVID protocols. However, this didn’t stop him from having yet another great season. In 53 games, the 26-year-old defenseman recorded 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists).

Fast forward to this season, 2021-22, Toews has established himself as a great example of a rising star, a trailblazer. He went from single-A to the NHL which is extremely rare. He played in 66 games, recording 57 points (13 goals, 44 assists). He and the Avalanche are off to the Stanley Cup Finals to play against the 2-time defending champion, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hopefully Toews can add another award to his list of accomplishments, but we’ll have to wait and see until the series is over.

Devon Toews is truly an amazing hockey player with an amazing journey to the NHL, and now that journey continues as he looks to win the Stanley Cup, which would be the cherry on top for Toews. I predict that Toews will have a nice long career, most of it spent with the Colorado Avalanche, if not the remainder of it. I’d like to highlight one more time that it’s pretty incredible how Devon came from the lowest tier of U15 hockey to the highest tier, the NHL, and hopefully, Devon’s story inspires other kids who were in his boat to chase after their dreams.

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