[Trending News] ‘Special’ player, man Devon Toews hits the spotlight at 4 Nations Face-Off

If hockey fans around the world didn’t already know, the 4 Nations Face-Off will show what friends, teammates and coaches learned long ago about Devon Toews.

He’s special — not only on the ice, but off it.

For five seasons, Toews has been Cale Makar’s right-hand man on the blue line for the Avalanche. During the 4 Nations tournament, he’ll assume the same role for Team Canada.

Canada opens the 4 Nations Face-Off against Sweden at 6 p.m. Wednesday (TNT) and plays the United States in a prime-time matchup at 6 p.m. Saturday (ABC/ESPN).

You could say Toews is the Robin to Makar’s Batman, but on 95% of teams in the NHL, Toews himself would be the caped crusader.

He’s that good, and what separates Toews from the pack is his intelligence.

“(Toews) is kind of like a Nick Lidstrom out there. His style, his stick, and his IQ is through the roof,” reigning Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon said. “I’m sure you could ask Cale; he loves playing with him. He makes life easy for Cale, and Cale gets to be Cale when Toews is with him.”

If the NHL had gone to the Olympics in 2022, Toews would have made Team Canada. Since he arrived in Denver in 2020, it would be hard to name 10 defensemen better than him.

But the NHL didn’t go to the Olympics that year, meaning Toews, like many others playing in the 4 Nations Face-Off, has never had the opportunity to represent his country in a best-on-best tournament. It’s not that he hasn’t had the opportunity to don a Team Canada jersey. He has, representing Canada West during the 2012 World Junior A challenge. 

It’s not a huge tournament, but it mattered to him.

“I know that doesn’t really count to a lot of people, but to me it did,” Toews told The Denver Gazette. “It was a cool experience and a lot of fun to compete with some of the best Junior A players in the nation at that point.”

So when he got the call from Hockey Canada to join the 4 Nations squad, there had to have been a ton of emotions flowing through his mind, right? Not exactly.

Part of that was because he was focused on the Avalanche’s season. The other part is that’s not who he is.

“I don’t really have too many emotions. Ever, usually,” Toews said.

That has probably changed since he arrived in Montreal for the tournament.

“I think once it starts and you get there and get to see a group of players like that in a room together, competing together, that’ll help it settle in and understand the fun that you’re going to have and the excitement that comes with playing for your country,” he said.

It was a long road for Toews to reach the best league on earth. He didn’t graduate full-time to the NHL until two months before his 25th birthday. That’s relatively normal for players who go the NCAA route, but that’s why college hockey is so perfect for young players who need time to develop not just their game, but their bodies. The latter benefitted Toews.

“I’m pretty sure when he came in (as a college freshman), he was like 152 pounds. I always remember that number,” Rand Pecknold, who coached Toews at Quinnipiac University, told The Denver Gazette. “By the time he was a junior, he was probably about 190. He was a late bloomer. He had to fill out.”

Pecknold has been the head coach at Quinnipiac University for 31 seasons. Toews likely is the gold standard among Quinnipiac alums. Pecknold still remembers getting a call from one of his former players, Matt Erhart.

At the time, Erhart was the head coach of the Surrey Eagles, with whom Toews was playing in the British Columbia Hockey League. Pecknold’s former player didn’t want Quinnipiac to miss out on a supreme talent.

“I remember Matt called me and was like, ‘Rand, you got to get on Toews,'” Pecknold said. “‘You got to get out here and you got to lock him down. He’s perfect for what you need. He’s high IQ, high skill, can skate. He’s just a little undersized.'”

Erhart nailed it. Toews committed to Quinnipiac and was scheduled to join the program as a 20-year-old, but he took off in the BCHL, where they moved up his timeline to join as a freshman at 19. Even as a teenager weighing fewer than 160 pounds, Toews was so good Pecknold had no choice but to play him — and play him a lot.

Toews ran their top power-play unit, killed penalties and was a top-four defenseman right from the start. With each passing day Toews got a little bigger and a little better. During his junior season, a season in which Quinnipiac advanced to the NCAA final, he was the team’s best player.

Toews left Quinnipac after his junior season. Pecknold wanted him back for one more year, but he knew Toews didn’t need it.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I told him I would drive him to the airport,” Pecknold said with a laugh. “I think the comment to him was: ‘Devon, I would love to have you back one more year, but you don’t need to come back. You’re ready.'”

His NCAA coach believed Toews was ready for the NHL immediately. The New York Islanders, who took Toews in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL draft, had other plans. The Islanders allowed to Toews to mature over two years in the AHL, which helped him in the long run.

Pecknold said he knew Toews would be a very good NHL defenseman. He also said the Avalanche deserve credit for recognizing the Toews’ ability, maybe more so than the team that drafted him.

“I give a lot of credit to (Avalanche coach Jared) Bednar and their coaching staff. They gave him a ton of ice time, they gave him more responsibility. The confidence that they put into him, they got rewarded for,” Pecknold said. “The Avs traded for him, put him right with Makar, and he just took off.

“There’s a lot to be said about coaches and instilling confidence in the players and giving them the opportunity, so I give Bednar a lot of credit.”

Toews possesses a little bit of everything. He’s an effortless skater, which is why he can play 25 minutes and never looked tired. His breakout pass is elite and his shot isn’t too shabby, either.

What separates Toews is his hockey IQ.

He processes the game quicker than most players, one reason why his team gets better when he’s on the ice.

“I always use this phrase: when he was on the ice, we had the puck,” Pecknold said. “It’s the same thing in the NHL now. I just think his hockey IQ is elite. He’s just so far ahead of the play. You can’t teach that. You can’t teach what he does.”

Nearly a decade after leaving Quinnipiac to turn pro, Toews hasn’t forgotten his roots.

While the Avalanche were in the New York area at the end of January, Toews got together with his old coach and several Quinnipiac alums for dinner. Even more alums, many of which Toews never actually played with, were invited and attended his Stanley Cup party in 2022.

“Not only is he a great hockey player, but he’s probably even a better person,” Pecknold said. “It’s just great how good of a father he is, how good of a husband he is. In the end, we want to win at Quinnipiac, but we also don’t (only) want to develop great hockey players, but develop great people too.”

Does that mean he passed?

“We give him an A-plus on both,” Pecknold said.