Colorado Avalanche sign Devon Toews to new four year contract

Two weeks after acquiring him, the Colorado Avalanche have agreed to a new four year contract with defenseman Devon Toews. A restricted free agent at the time of the trade, the former New York Islander, has avoided arbitration by signing a new contract worth $16.4m. The deal is back loaded with no signing bonus and carries an annual cap hit of $4.1m.

The contract is broken down as follows:

2020-21: $2,350,000

2021-22: $3,550,000

2022-23: $4,600,000

2023-24: $5,900,000

The 26-year old, appeared in all 68 games for the Islanders during his first full NHL season in 2019-20 - putting up six goals and 28 points. Toews then went on to tally 10 points in 22 postseason games for the Islanders.

“We’re excited to have Devon under contract for the next four years,” said Avalanche General Manager Joe Sakic when discussing the extension. “As I said when we acquired him, Devon is a smart, two-way, puck-moving defenseman who is a durable defender and is excellent in transition.”

Signing him to a four year contract before he ever puts on an Avalanche jersey, Sakic and the front office are showing the faith they have in Toews. He will be expected to play a big part in any success this Avalanche team has over the coming years.

A big upgrade on the recently departed Nikita Zadorov, Toews is expected to play in the top-4 in Colorado and contribute on the team’s second powerplay unit. With Toews, Ryan Graves and Samuel Girard all locked up on the left side of the blueline, this move also signals that the organization doesn’t expect 2019 fourth overall draft pick Bo Byram to be ready to make an an impact in the NHL this season.

With this deal signed, the Avalanche now have approximately $1.8m of cap space remaining, should they want to make another depth signing to fill out the roster.