Devon Toews

Devon Toews ( ; born February 21, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He 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 Toews began playing youth hockey at Yale Hockey Academy at the age of six. 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. 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. and was offered a full hockey scholarship to play at Quinnipiac University. On November 1, 2012, Toews was selected to represent Team Canada West at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge. He played in four games and earned a silver medal. He was also a member of the BCHL First All-Star Team. 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.

Collegiate 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. Toews recorded his first collegiate goal on November 27, in a 3–3 tie with Providence 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. 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.

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. At the conclusion of the season, Toews was again named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team. Although the team lost 5–1,

Professional New York Islanders On April 15, 2016, Toews opted to conclude his collegiate career and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders. 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. During the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, Toews won the Fastest Skater competition with a time of 13.478.

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. Despite not playing for the remainder of his contract, the Islanders re-signed Toews to a two-year contract extension on July 16, 2018.

After attending the Islanders' training camp ahead of the 2018–19 season, Toews was reassigned to the Sound Tigers. 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. Toews made his NHL debut on December 23 against the Dallas Stars while playing on a pairing with Luca Sbisa. He wore the jersey number 25, becoming the 20th Islander to don that number. 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. He became the 18th player in the modern era to score their first NHL goal in overtime. The Islanders qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games. 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. Following their elimination, Toews trained at Quinnipiac University and in Vancouver with NHL veterans Morgan Rielly and Shea Theodore.

Colorado Avalanche

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. On October 27, Toews was signed to a four-year, $16.4 million contract with the Avalanche. 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.

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

International play

On December 31, 2025, he was named to Canada's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Personal life 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 center fielder Devon White and Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.

Toews and his wife Kerry have four children. They became engaged in 2018 and married in October 2020. 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.

Despite their shared last name, Toews is not related to fellow Canadian ice hockey player and former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs 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 BCHL54722294212571215 2012–13 Surrey Eagles BCHL48103747551709910 2013–14 Quinnipiac University ECAC371161710————— 2014–15 Quinnipiac University ECAC314162016————— 2015–16 Quinnipiac University ECAC407233026————— 2016–17 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL765404518————— 2017–18 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL30814228————— 2018–19 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL245141916————— 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 2024–25 Colorado Avalanche NHL 76 10 34 44 26 7 1 3 4 2 2025–26 Colorado Avalanche NHL 68 3 21 24 32 13 2 9 11 2NHL totals 541 65 237 302 158 97 14 52 66 22

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM2012 Canada WestWJAC402214 2025 Canada4NF40002 2026 Canada OG 6 1 2 3 0 Junior totals 402214 Senior totals 101232

Awards and honours