Devon Toews Avoids Arbitration
One of the most interesting arbitration cases on the schedule this year was Devon Toews, who would have had to sit across the (virtual) table from Colorado Avalanche management that barely knew him. The Avalanche traded two second-round picks for Toews earlier this offseason, taking him away from the New York Islanders. That hearing, scheduled for October 31, will not be needed anymore, as the team has reached a four-year contract with Toews that will pay him an average annual value of $4.1MM.
CapFriendly has the full breakdown:
- 2020-21: $2.35MM
- 2021-22: $3.55MM
- 2022-23: $4.6MM
- 2023-24: $5.9MM
Toews, 26, is giving up three years of unrestricted free agency in the deal and turning down the chance to walk into the open market next offseason. An arbitration award would have only been able to be a one-year deal, making him a UFA at the age of 27. In exchange for giving that up, Toews has received quite the raise over the $700K salary he had averaged over the last two seasons.
Though it took him a while to get to the NHL, when he did, Toews found immediate success. A fourth-round pick in 2014 after his first season at Quinnipiac University, Toews would stay in college for two more years before joining the Islanders organization. In 2016-17 he would burst onto the AHL scene with 45 points in 76 games, racking up the most assists by any rookie and earning himself a place on the All-Rookie team.
Though injuries would limit his sophomore year, Toews would finally make it to the NHL just before Christmas in 2018 and never look back. In his first season with the Islanders he recorded 18 points in 48 games while averaging a little less than 18 minutes a game, but both those numbers ballooned in 2019-20.
Now thrown over the boards for more than 20 minutes a night and given regular powerplay time, Toews racked up 28 points in 68 games and was a monster in almost every possession statistic.
In Colorado, while the powerplay opportunity may disappear thanks to the presence of talented youngsters like Cale Makar and Samuel Girard (not to mention Bowen Byram, who is on the way), he’ll represent a perfect two-way complement that can slide in beside almost anyone. In fact, he seems a capable replacement for Ian Cole, who has quietly been extremely effective since ending up in Colorado, but whose contract expires after the 2020-21 season.
Snapshots: Training Camps, Toews, McIsaac
The 2020-21 league calendar was one of the key topics at Friday’s GM meetings and while there still is no word on when the season will begin, there appears to be an overview of what training camps could look like. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the NHL is targeting a two-week training camp along with three or four exhibition games per team; the seven that didn’t participate in the Return to Play would get an extra week as had been previously reported. Instead of teams inviting a significant number of prospects and minor leaguers to camp, they would be capped at 35 players. Additionally, a conditioning camp before training camp begins has been proposed but is capped to recent draft picks, players on entry-level deals, and tryouts but anyone who participates in it must be invited to training camp. With the NHL still targeting a start around the first of January, that would have camps kicking off somewhere around mid-to-late December.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Colorado is expected to reach a settlement with RFA defenseman Devon Toews in advance of Saturday’s scheduled arbitration hearing, notes Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now. The Avalanche acquired the blueliner from the Islanders two weeks ago in exchange for second-round picks in each of the next two drafts. The 26-year-old is a year away from UFA eligibility and is coming off a strong season that saw him collect 28 points in 68 games while logging 20:31 per night in ice time. If GM Joe Sakic wants to ensure his new blueliner will be around for more than a year, they’ll need to reach an agreement over the next few days.
- Red Wings prospect Jared McIsaac suffered an injury with HPK in Finland and has been recalled to Detroit, the SM-liiga team announced. The defenseman’s stint lasted all of one shift and 34 seconds. McIsaac missed a big chunk of last season while recovering from shoulder surgery and the attempt to make up for that lost time has come to an end in a hurry.
Colorado Avalanche Acquire Devon Toews
Just two days after trading away Nikita Zadorov, the Colorado Avalanche have replaced him with a new top-six defenseman. The New York Islanders announced that they have traded Devon Toews to Colorado in exchange for second-round picks in 2021 and 2022. Toews is an unsigned restricted free agent.
Toews, 26, only broke into the NHL in 2018-19, but has made a great first impression. As a rookie, Toews recorded 18 points in 48 games, claimed a role on the power play, and held his own defensively in a third pair role. This past season, he showed even more growth. In 68 games, he improved to 28 points, made an even bigger impact on the power play, improved defensively, and along the way ended up earning a top-four role with over 20 minutes of ice time per game. A slick puck-mover with great hockey IQ, Toews is a well-rounded defenseman whose relative inexperience has kept him underrated compared to his actual ability. Even at the cost of two high picks, this seems like a shrewd deal by GM Joe Sakic.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, someone had to go and Toews fit the bill. Working with just under $9MM in cap space, the Islanders needed to re-sign core contributors Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock, as well as Toews. Trading away Toews, who had filed for salary arbitration, is now one less contract that the team needs to squeeze in. With their depth on defense – Pulock, Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, Thomas Hickey and prospects Sebastian Aho and Noah Dobson – Toews was expendable, even if he played a major role this season. In fact, it would not be a surprise to see another defenseman move as the Isles make an effort to re-sign Barzal and Pulock without damaging the roster too much.