Toews signs four-year contract with Avalanche

Devon Toews signed a four-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 26-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent who had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Saturday. He was traded to the Avalanche by the New York Islanders on Oct. 12 for a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and in the 2022 NHL Draft.

"For sure, I'm grateful to (general manager) Joe [Sakic] and his staff for putting their faith in me for four years," Toews said. "[My wife and I are] excited just to be able to settle down somewhere. It's a crazy time right now with a lot of moving parts in the League and just the world in general. To kind of have that security, to know we can settle down and try and start a family here in one place without having to worry about moving around is something we're very excited about."

Toews said he spoke with Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov and forward Derick Brassard about life in Colorado; Varlamov played eight seasons with the Avalanche (2011-19), and Brassard played for them briefly at the end of the 2018-19 season.

"Derick and Semyon have been great friends of mine and great teammates to have," Toews said. "They obviously put in their input in and were pretty quick to reach out there and just tell me how great of a situation I'm going into and how grateful I should be that I'll be an Avalanche player. So, that was great for them to reach out and kind of show support and a little positivity there."

Selected by New York in the fourth round (No. 108) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Toews scored 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) in 68 games with the Islanders last season and 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 22 postseason games, helping them reach the Eastern Conference Final. He has scored 46 points (11 goals, 35 assists) in 116 regular-season games and 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"We're excited to have Devon under contract for the next four years," Sakic said. "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."

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report