New York Islanders: Devon Toews Expectations For 2019-2020

Devon Toews made a splash during his rookie year with the New York Islanders. Here’s what you can expect from him this year.

If Devon Toews didn’t get hurt in 2017-2018 he likely would’ve made his NHL debut with the New York Islanders a season earlier. Instead, we had to wait until last year for Toews to get the call-up but it was well worth the wait.

We were gifted an early Christmas gift on December 23, Devon Toews got the call and made his NHL debut. He never left the lineup and his impact was felt immediately with the Isles.

Toews ended up playing 48 games with the Isles putting up 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) along the way (a pace of 31 points over a full season). While the Islanders eased him into the lineup averaging just under 18 minutes a night, it was obvious that he had talent.

Devon quickly took over as the quarterback of the power play. He is great with the puck and handled that role wonderfully, despite the rest of the unit’s struggles.

With Nick Leddy struggling for the second year in a row, Toews essentially took over as the puck-moving lefty. As it stands right now, he’s likely the best left-handed defenseman that the Isles have to offer.

No, that doesn’t mean that we will see him with Ryan Pulock on the top pair, but we will absolutely see the Toews-Mayfield pair graduate to the second pair with a bigger role.

The Expectations

With an increased role, Toews should see an increase in ice time. Toews should see his ice time creep up over 19 minutes, especially with a more stable role on the power play. On PP1 Toews is all but a lock to be the lone defender out there so he should see an increase there.

We should see an improved power play as well. In 2018-2019 the Isles sat at 14.5 percent which was third-worst in the league. If they can get that up to around 20 percent that would put them in the middle of the pack, which is all the Isles really need.

With increased ice time and an improved power play, Toews’ production should increase. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see Toews finish in the 40 point range. I’ll say he finishes with 40 points on the nose with 9 goals.

The Isles are going to have to pay Toews after this year and if he puts up a year like I think he will it won’t come at a cheap price. Both Toews and Pulock will be here for a long-time and Islanders fans should be excited about it.