Islanders trade Toews to Colorado for draft picks
In a salary-cap crunch, the New York Islanders traded one of their young restricted free agents, former Quinnipiac and Bridgeport Sound Tigers defenseman Devon Toews, on Monday.
Toews, 26, went to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for second-round draft picks in 2021 and 2022. He’d been a key contributor on defense and on the power play for the Islanders, who last month reached their first conference final since 1993.
Toews had opted for salary arbitration. That decision was announced on Saturday, the day he got married.
“(The cap situation, flat because of the COVID-19 pandemic) certainly played a role, I’ll be straightforward on it, unfortunately,” Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “The combination of the player going to arbitration, with the unknown, and being able to acquire assets which we sort of used in previous trades, it’s allencompassing.”
The Islanders don’t have their own 2021 secondrounder, traded to New Jersey in the spring for Andy Greene.
Toews was an Islanders fourth-round draft pick in 2014 after his freshman year at Quinnipiac, turning pro after helping the Bobcats to the national championship game in his junior season.
He played two and a half seasons with the Sound Tigers; he was an AHL all-star as a rookie, winning the fastest-skater competition, and scored 45 points that season to earn a spot on the league’s allrookie team. He was promoted to the NHL and had played 116 games plus 30 more in the playoffs the past two years.
The Islanders have holes to refill and need to re-sign restricted free agents Mat Barzal, a centerman, and Ryan Pulock, the former Sound Tigers defenseman; they, like Toews, were due raises. Pulock also chose arbitration.
Lamoriello said the organization envisions Noah Dobson, their first-round pick in 2018, stepping into a bigger role next season.
“It’s not that (Toews) was a player targeted (to go). That would be disrespect to him and what he’s done for us,” Lamoriello said. “I had a conversation with him, and certainly it was a very difficult conversation, because he’s such a quality human being as well as a good hockey player.”
The deal was the Islanders’ second with Colorado in two days: They sent Kyle Burroughs, Toews’ former defense partner in Bridgeport, to the Avalanche on Sunday in exchange for forward A.J. Greer.
“Devon is a smart, twoway, puck-moving defenseman who plays 20-plus minutes a night,” Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a statement. “He is a durable defender who is excellent in transition and we are excited to add him to our blueline.”
Lamoriello added that “there’s a good, sort of, chance” that New York will sign veteran goalie Cory Schneider, as reported by the Athletic. Schneider, 34, would add veteran depth for the Islanders, who have Ilya Sorokin coming over from Russia for his first North American season and have Semyon Varlamov signed.
“He’s trying to resurrect his career, and with our coaching staff, I’ve had several conversations with Cory, so that rumor, I think, will come to fruition,” Lamoriello said.
Lamoriello traded for Schneider in 2013 when he was running the New Jersey Devils. He also signed Schneider to a seven-year contract in 2014; the Devils bought out the last two years of that contract last week.
In 14 games for Binghamton of the AHL last season, Schneider went 7-7-0 with a 2.71 goalsagainst average and a .903 save percentage. In 13 NHL games with the Devils, he went 3-6-2 with a 3.53 GAA and an .887 save percentage.
Lamoriello said he was “very surprised” that restricted free agent forward Josh Ho-Sang, who was reassigned from Bridgeport to San Antonio shortly before play was halted in March, filed for arbitration. “We’ll have to see what the future brings.”