This piece will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll give some thoughts on the performance of a member of the New York Islanders this season. This article will focus on Devon Toews.
There were high expectations for Toews this year, after becoming an effective member of the blue line right away upon being called up by the Islanders last season. He didn’t have a poor sophomore season by any means but it also became more apparent that his game wasn’t necessarily as complete as we thought.
He was key on the power play this year, where he played more than any other defenseman on the team. His ice time at even strength also saw a big jump, as he averaged over two minutes per game more this year than he did last season.
Offensively, Toews performed well, boosting his production to a pace of 34 points (per 82 games) this season. His possession stats were fairly strong and he ranked second amongst Islanders defenders in shots, behind just Ryan Pulock.
On the defensive side of things though, he was a bit less reliable. While he started fairly strong, in the back half he was more prone to some poor decisions with the puck and defensive lapses. It’s probably not something to be concerned about long-term but he wasn’t as strong in his own end in the back half of the year.
Moving forward, the next step for Toews should be to continue to round out his defensive game. He’s due for a new contract and it’s likely we see something in the four-year range, based on his age and limited 116 games of NHL experience. Like with Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock, I’ll do a longer article specifically on a contract prediction at some point, but my early bet on a contract AAV for Toews would be somewhere around the $4.5M range.
Toews is part of New York’s strong and relatively young defense group that could stay intact for a while. As he continues to develop, it seems likely that he’ll establish himself as a very well-rounded top-four defenseman.
Here's today's poll question (results and discussion will be posted next weekend).
Note: I promise it's the last contract one for a while!
What is your prediction for Devon Toews' contract AAV (on a four-year deal)?
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