After the New York Islanders traded Devon Toews to the Colorado Avalanche for a pair of second round picks, the young defender signed a four-year, $16.4 million contract in Denver. Noah Dobson will likely replace Toews in the Islanders’ top-four defense. While Islander fans were divided on Toews’s play, he was an excellent Islander and a solid NHL defenseman. He now has a new home in Colorado, and can flourish there under the proper conditions.

What are the Avalanche getting in Devon Toews?

Devon Toews is a bonafide top-four defenseman for any team in the National Hockey League. While he has been decent defensively, he has made some turnovers and blown coverage in the defensive zone with the Islanders. However, it is hard to expect perfection out of a player who has only played for a year and a half in the National Hockey League. Young defensemen take time to develop, even if that means making some egregious mistakes. There is plenty of time to grow for the Quinnipiac University alumnus.

Colorado is getting an excellent puck rusher and mover, a very speedy defenseman, a good two-way player, and a player who is soon to enter his prime in Devon Toews. Young, skilled, and fast defenseman do not come easily in the National Hockey League, and the Avalanche are more than fortunate to add another one to their roster, along with Cale Makar.

How will the young d-man fit in Colorado’s lineup?

With the acquisition of Devon Toews, the Colorado Avalanche now have a pretty impressive defensive core in front of Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz. Ruling out any injuries, their top six defensemen will now likely be some combination of Cale Makar, Ryan Graves, Devon Toews, Erik Johnson, Samuel Girard and Ian Cole.

Last season, Colorado’s defensive pairings looked like this:

Cale Makar – Ryan Graves

Erik Johnson – Samuel Girard

Ian Cole – Nikita Zadorov

With how well the Avalanche played last season and Nikita Zadorov being dealt to Chicago, it is likely that Makar/Graves and Johnson/Girard will remain defensive pairings, setting up Toews with Ian Cole. While there is a chance that Toews may move up in the lineup to play with Johnson or Girard, Jared Bednar may not want to gamble with the chemistry his defensive pairings already have.

Like Scott Mayfield, Ian Cole is a solid defensive defenseman, which can give Toews more of a chance to take risks and rush the puck. Toews’s best strength is using good defense to create offense, with speed and vision. If Toews were to take a gamble resulting in a defensive turnover, Cole would be able to “pick up the slack” for him, which would allow Toews to play to his full potential. It also helps when he can get some ice time with players like Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog.

Toews can also get some time on the power play and act as a power play quarterback, in terms of rushing the puck and setting up in the offensive zone. Here is Colorado’s projected first power play unit according to Daily Faceoff:

Mikko Rantanen – Nazem Kadri – Andre Burakovsky

Nathan MacKinnon – Cale Makar

It is very unlikely that Toews will get ice time over MacKinnon or Makar on the first power-play unit, but he fits nicely on the projected second power play unit:

Gabriel Landeskog – JT Compher – Tyson Jost

Devon Toews – Samuel Girard

A power-play quarterback role on the second unit makes sense for Toews in Colorado. They have too much firepower to put Toews on the first unit yet, but injuries and coaching decisions can change everything.

What should we expect out of Devon Toews in Colorado?

The addition of Devon Toews solidifies the Avalanche as a top team in the West, if not THE best team in the Western Conference.

There is no real reason Toews won’t be able to succeed in Denver. He will likely be paired with a defensive defenseman, giving him chances to rush the puck. Colorado is a loaded team and Toews can feed off of the talent all around the lineup. The Avalanche play a speed and skill game, and Toews possesses both of those traits.

It seems like a perfect fit for the Colorado Avalanche, which is likely part of the reason why Joe Sakic made the decision to acquire Toews from the Islanders rather than complete a deal elsewhere or turn to free agency. Devon Toews can very well be the final piece to the puzzle in Colorado and push them over the hump.

It is pretty safe to say Islander and Avalanche fans are hoping the best for him, and he can really accomplish big things in the Mile-High City.

John Smark