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Devon Toews

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Devon Toews
Toews with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2017
Born (1994-02-21) February 21, 1994 (age 30)
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Colorado Avalanche
New York Islanders
NHL draft 108th overall, 2014
New York Islanders
Playing career 2018–present

Devon Toews (/dəˈvɑːn ˈteɪvz/ də-VAHN TAYVZ;[1] born February 21, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Tazer", Toews was drafted 108th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Toews won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.

Prior to turning professional, Toews attended Quinnipiac University, where he was named to the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team.

Playing career

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Toews began playing youth hockey at Yale Hockey Academy at the age of six.[2] He then played one season with the Abbotsford Hawks Bantam A1 Hawks, where he helped them win the B.C. bantam Tier 1 title and finish second at the Western Canadians. However, due to his short stature at the time, standing at 5’2”, Toews was initially overlooked by teams competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) as he was emerging from bantam hockey.[3] He joined the major-midget team the Fraser Valley Bruins with Mackenzie Skapski and they both suffered injuries as a result of a bus accident on December 11, 2009.[2] Despite this, Toews returned to the Fraser Valley Bruins, where he experienced a growth spurt, and led all BC Hockey Major Midget League defencemen with 37 points in 39 games during the 2010–11 season. This earned him a roster spot on the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).[3]

Toews played with the Surrey Eagles for two seasons. In his first season, he was named to the 2011–12 BCHL All-Rookie Team,[4] and was offered a full hockey scholarship to play at Quinnipiac University.[3] However, Toews returned to the Eagles for the 2012–13 season, where he won the 2013 BCHL Championship and the Western Canada Cup in Nanaimo. Toews was named MVP of the Western Canada Cup and was selected for the all-tournament team.[5] On November 1, 2012, Toews was selected to represent Team Canada West at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge.[6] He played in four games and earned a silver medal.[7] He was also a member of the BCHL First All-Star Team.[8] The Eagles competed in the 2013 Royal Bank Cup, losing to the Summerside Western Capitals in the semi-finals. Toews was nonetheless named Top Defencemen of the tournament's preliminary round.[9]

Collegiate

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Toews began his freshman year at Quinnipiac University during the 2013–14 season. While majoring in accounting, he appeared in 37 games and totaled 17 points.[10] Toews recorded his first collegiate goal on November 27, in a 3–3 tie with Providence[11] and ended the season with 17 points. At the conclusion of the season, he was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team due to having a GPA of 3.46.[12] Although he had previously been skipped over twice in the NHL Entry Draft as an 18- and 19-year-old, Toews was drafted 108th overall by the New York Islanders at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.[13]

Unsigned to a contract, Toews returned to Quinnipiac for his following two seasons. In his sophomore season, Toews appeared in 31 games for the Bobcats. He played in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals against Union College, where his two late period assists helped send Game One to triple overtime, which the Bobcats won.[10] While the Bobcats beat Union in three games, they lost in the semi-finals against Harvard University.[14] At the conclusion of the season, Toews was again named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team.[10]

Over his three seasons with the Bobcats, Toews led Quinnipiac to multiple NCAA Tournaments. During his final season with the team, he helped lead the Bobcats to the 2016 National Championship against North Dakota.[15] Although the team lost 5–1,[15] Toews set career highs that season in goals, assists and points, earning All-ECAC Hockey Second Team honours. He was also named a New England Second Team All-Star and was named a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman as he ended the season with a +27 while collecting 30 points.[16]

Professional

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New York Islanders

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On April 15, 2016, Toews opted to conclude his collegiate career and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders.[16] Despite ending his collegiate career, Toews continued to take classes from Quinnipiac and graduated in May 2017.[17][18] In his rookie season with Bridgeport, Toews tied all rookie defencemen in points and finished tenth in amongst all defencemen in the AHL. Toews also tied Raymond Giroux's team record for most assists by a rookie defenceman with 40.[17] As a result, he was selected to participate in the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic and was named to the AHL's All-Rookie team at the completion of the season.[19] During the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, Toews won the Fastest Skater competition with a time of 13.478.[20]

Prior to the 2017–18 season, Toews attended the Islanders training camp where he competed against Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, and Ryan Pulock for a spot on the final roster.[19] He was returned to the Sound Tigers where he played in 30 games and earned 22 points before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury on December 30 in a game against the Binghamton Devils, and was forced to undergo surgery. Due to the nature of the injury, Toews was out for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[21] Despite not playing for the remainder of his contract, the Islanders re-signed Toews to a two-year contract extension on July 16, 2018.[22]

After attending the Islanders' training camp ahead of the 2018–19 season, Toews was reassigned to the Sound Tigers.[23] On December 19, 2018, Toews earned his first NHL recall after he had recorded 19 points in 24 games, which ranked second amongst Sound Tiger defencemen.[24] Toews made his NHL debut on December 23 against the Dallas Stars while playing on a pairing with Luca Sbisa.[25] He wore the jersey number 25, becoming the 20th Islander to don that number.[26] On January 3, 2019, in his fifth NHL game, Toews recorded his first NHL point, the game-winning goal, in a 3–2 overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks.[27] He became the 18th player in the modern era to score their first NHL goal in overtime.[28] The Islanders qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games.[29] The team then faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round where Toews subsequently recorded his first career playoff goal on May 1, 2019. He became the third Islanders rookie defenceman in 25 years to score a postseason goal.[30] Following their elimination, Toews trained at Quinnipiac University and in Vancouver with NHL veterans Morgan Rielly and Shea Theodore.[31]

Colorado Avalanche

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Toews with the Colorado Avalanche in 2023.

As a restricted free agent with the Islanders, due to salary cap constraints, Toews was traded by New York to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for 2021 and 2022 second-round draft picks, on October 12, 2020.[32] On October 27, Toews was signed to a four-year, $16.4 million contract with the Avalanche.[33] In his first season with the Avalanche, he primarily played alongside Cale Makar while leading the team in ice-time per game in both regular season and playoffs.

On June 26, 2022, Toews won the Stanley Cup, his first, with the Avalanche.[34]

On October 13, 2023, Toews signed a seven-year, $50.75 million ($7.25 million AAV) contract extension with the Avalanche.[35]

Personal life

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Toews was born to parents Werner and Tammy Toews and was raised in Abbotsford, British Columbia, along with one brother, Nolan. Toews's parents were baseball fans who named their sons after Toronto Blue Jays fielder Devon White and Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.[36]

Toews and his wife Kerry have two children.[37][38] They became engaged in 2018 and married in October 2020.[39] At their wedding, in lieu of wedding favors, they made a donation to Hockey Fights Cancer in honor of Demetra Anas, who was the mother of Toews' Quinnipiac teammate Sam Anas and who had died of breast cancer two months earlier.[40]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Fraser Valley Bruins AAA BCMMHL 39 2 5 7 60 — — — — —
2009–10 Yale Secondary School HSBC 3 2 9 11 0 3 3 8 11 2
2010–11 Fraser Valley Bruins AAA BCMMHL 39 12 25 37 52 — — — — —
2010–11 Abbotsford Pilots PIJHL 5 1 1 2 0 13 1 5 6 2
2010–11 Yale Secondary School HSBC 4 6 8 14 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Surrey Eagles BCHL 54 7 22 29 42 12 5 7 12 15
2012–13 Surrey Eagles BCHL 48 10 37 47 55 17 0 9 9 10
2013–14 Quinnipiac University ECAC 37 1 16 17 10 — — — — —
2014–15 Quinnipiac University ECAC 31 4 16 20 16 — — — — —
2015–16 Quinnipiac University ECAC 40 7 23 30 26 — — — — —
2016–17 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 76 5 40 45 18 — — — — —
2017–18 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 30 8 14 22 8 — — — — —
2018–19 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 24 5 14 19 16 — — — — —
2018–19 New York Islanders NHL 48 5 13 18 4 8 1 4 5 0
2019–20 New York Islanders NHL 68 6 22 28 16 22 2 8 10 6
2020–21 Colorado Avalanche NHL 53 9 22 31 16 10 1 5 6 2
2021–22 Colorado Avalanche NHL 66 13 44 57 20 20 5 10 15 8
2022–23 Colorado Avalanche NHL 80 7 43 50 26 7 1 8 9 0
2023–24 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 12 38 50 18 10 1 5 6 2
NHL totals 397 52 182 234 100 77 11 40 51 18

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Canada West WJAC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 0 2 2 14
Junior totals 4 0 2 2 14

Awards and honours

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Award Year Ref
BCHL
BCHL All-Rookie Team 2012 [4]
BCHL First All-Star Team 2013 [8]
MVP of the Western Canada Cup 2013 [5]
Top Defencemen (RBC Cup) 2013 [9]
College
ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team 2014, 2015 [10]
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 2016 [16]
ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman Finalist 2016
New England Second Team All-Star 2016
AHL
All-Rookie Team 2017 [19]
All-Star Game 2017
NHL
Stanley Cup champion 2022 [34]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wright, Cory (December 23, 2018). "7 Facts: Devon Toews". nhl.com. NewYorkIslanders.com. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Shulman, Mike (December 13, 2019). "How undersized Devon Toews beat the odds to thrive with Islanders". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Late-blooming Toews lands NCAA hockey scholarship". Abbotsford News. November 17, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "BCHL Announces 2011-12 All-Star Recipients". bchl.ca. March 13, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Abbotsford blueliner Toews leads Eagles into RBC Cup". Surrey Now-Leader. May 10, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  6. ^ "Toews Named to Team Canada West". surreyeagles.ca. November 1, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  7. ^ "Canada West 3, United States 6". hockeycanada.ca. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  8. ^ a b "2012-13 BCHL All-Stars Announced". bchl.ca. March 6, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "2013 RBC Cup Award Winners Announced; Semifinals Set for Saturday". hockeycanada.ca. May 17, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d "DEVON TOEWS". quinnipiacbobcats.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  11. ^ "No. 5 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Ties No. 4 Providence, 3-3". gobobcats.com. November 27, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  12. ^ "Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Places League-Best 26 Student-Athletes On ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team". gobobcats.com. 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  13. ^ "Quinnipiac's Devon Toews was overlooked, but not underweight". New Haven Register. July 2, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  14. ^ "Vesey, Harvard jump ahead early, hold on for semifinal win over Quinnipiac". uscho.com. March 20, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Parsons, Kelly (April 10, 2016). "North Dakota ends Frozen Four title drought, tops Quinnipiac 5-1". Tampa: Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  16. ^ a b c "Devon Toews Signs With NHL's New York Islanders". ecachockey.com. April 15, 2016. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  17. ^ a b Fornabaio, Michael (October 6, 2017). "Sound Tigers' Toews awaiting another graduation". Connecticut Post. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  18. ^ @TheSoundTigers (May 22, 2017). "Congrats to @ DevonToews6 & classmates / teammates on graduating from @ QuinnipiacU on Sat!🎓" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ a b c Wright, Cory (July 2, 2017). "Toews Turning Heads For Isles". NHL.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  20. ^ "2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition". theahl.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  21. ^ "Toews Out 4-6 Months". NHL.com. January 12, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  22. ^ "Islanders Agree to Terms With Toews on Two-Year Contract". NHL.com. July 16, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  23. ^ Wright, Cory (October 2, 2018). "Isles Day-to-Day: Kovar, Toews Loaned to Bridgeport". NHL.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  24. ^ "Islanders Recall Toews". NHL.com. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  25. ^ Wright, Cory (December 23, 2018). "Morning Skate Updates: Islanders at Stars". NHL.com. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  26. ^ Wright, Cory (December 22, 2018). "7 Facts: Devon Toews". nhl.com. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  27. ^ Compton, Brian (January 3, 2019). "Devon Toews scores first NHL goal, Islanders defeat Blackhawks". NHL.com. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  28. ^ @PR_NHL (January 3, 2019). "Devon Toews scored in OT (his first NHL goal) as the @NYIslanders improved to 3-0-1 at Nassau Coliseum in 2018-19. Toews became the 18th player in the modern era to have his first NHL goal come in OT. Two others did so with the NYI: Thomas Hickey & Radek Martinek. #NHLStats" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ Brian Compton (April 22, 2019). "Islanders healing while awaiting next playoff opponent". NHL.com. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  30. ^ @PR_NHL (May 1, 2019). "Devon Toews is the third rookie defenceman in the last 25 years to score a postseason goal with the @NYIslanders. The others: Brian Strait (Game 4 of 2013 CQF), Ryan Pulock (Game 3 of 2016 R1)#NHLStats #StanleyCup" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "Toews Not Taking Anything For Granted in Second Season". nhl.com. National Hockey League. September 18, 2019. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  32. ^ "Avalanche acquires Devon Toews from Islanders". Colorado Avalanche. October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  33. ^ "Avalanche signs Devon Toews to four-year deal". Colorado Avalanche. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Colorado Avalanche win first Stanley Cup since 2001 with Game 6 comeback". ESPN. June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  35. ^ "Avalanche sign D Toews to seven-year, $50.75M extension". tsn.ca. October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  36. ^ Toews, Devon (November 30, 2024). "Devon Toews". Hockey Night in Canada After Hours (Interview). Interviewed by Scott Oake. Denver, Colorado: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  37. ^ Baugh, Peter (September 2, 2021). "For new Avalanche dads, the hockey offseason is the parenting on-season". The Athletic. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  38. ^ Peter_Baugh. "Congrats to Devon Toews and his wife, Kerry, who welcomed their second child in late December. Per Devon's Instagram". X.com. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  39. ^ devon_toews. "September 19th my best friend said yes! Can't wait to start our life together! Special thanks to @sydney_schalk_smith for the setting!!". Instagram. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  40. ^ O'Leary, Dan (October 12, 2020). "Toews makes donation to Hockey Fights Cancer for wedding". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
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