By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche season ended in game 7 of the 2nd-round, losing to the Dallas Stars. In the offseason, Colorado wanted to improve the blue line. They made two trades, one with the Chicago Blackhawks and another with the New York Islanders. The Avalanche acquired Brandon Saad from Chicago for Nikita Zadorov. From the Islanders, the Avalanche received Devon Toews for second-round picks in the 2021 and 2022 NHL Drafts.
Toews is starting the prime of his career at 26 years old. Colorado hopes he will be a scoring defenseman for years to come. Last season, Toews scored 6 goals and 22 assists for a total of 28 points. In the New York Islanders postseason run, he added 2 goals and 8 assists for 10 points. In his career, Toews totaled 11 goals and 35 assists.
The Avalanche decided to extend his contract. Toews will be in Colorado until 2024. The contract total is $16.4 million. According to ESPN, General Manager Joe Sakic said, “Devon is a smart, two-way, puck-moving defenseman who is a durable defender and is excellent in transition.”
Colorado might have the best blue line in the NHL now with their ability to score and feed their teammates for goals. The top defenseman for Colorado is Erik Johnson. After him, there is Cale Makar, Saad, and Toews. Johnson scored 3 goals and 13 assists for the Avs last season. Makar is growing at the NHL level, finishing his first season with 12 goals and 38 assists.
When Saad played for Chicago, he showed his ability to score. He totaled 21 goals and 12 assists last year. Adding up all these stats, the defenseman scored 42 goals and 85 assists last year, a lot of firepower for Colorado. They can all play the point on the power play too. Opponents for the Avalanche need to watch out for these skaters. Not only can they block shots and knock players off the puck, but they will also fire the puck to the net. They will be able to score and create rebound chances. The Avalanche hope these defensive moves will help them reach at least the Western Conference Finals for the 1st time since 2002. Toews wants to be part of the group to bring a Cup back to the Mile High for the 1st time since 2001. He will have 4 years to do so
Leave a Reply