Devon Toews

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]

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]

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]