New York Islanders: Devon Toews potential debut arrives at the perfect time

The New York Islanders recently recalled prospect Devon Toews from the AHL. Toews is a defender and what the Islanders need more than anything right now.

The New York Islanders and their fans have been awaiting the call-up of Devon Toews for pretty much all season now. They finally got it this week.

The games dragged on and on and the pressing need for young talent grew more and more imperative.

The Islanders finally called up Joshua Ho-Sang to add some forward depth. He already put himself on the score sheet in the recent Isles game in Arizona.

But, it was not enough. The need for more young talent grew more and more. With Thomas Hickey banged up, and Luca Sbisa rendering himself useless, the Isles need defense.

Toews was already recalled before the Isles just took on the Vegas Golden Knights. He will likely play in the fourth and final game of this current road stand.

I read the writing on the wall. I have been all offseason. I am a firm believer in Lou Lamoriello and trust what he is doing.

I also trust that Barry Trotz will work with a player and work around their in-abilities, not showcase them.

For the most part, the Islanders have been decent this season. They are winning games that matter and grinding out wins.

It hardly mattered that the Islanders were getting out-shot by their opponents every game. Better goaltending and efficiency on offense has them here.

So, what does this all have to do with Toews? It has to do with Toews because the timing is finally right.

At the beginning of the season, the Islanders had to see what they had in the players already on the roster.

Barry Trotz wanted to surround them with experienced talent and see who could improve who would fall off etc.

But now, as the season enters its most important days, where the contenders emerge and the pretenders flounder, the Isles realized they simply need just talent.

It is the same reason Ho-Sang got called up. The Power play stagnated, the offense began slowing down, injuries (Andrew Ladd, where you at?) all began to take over.

Ho-Sang is talented so he got his time.

That is why the Islanders need Toews.

There is no way of knowing how good this kid be. There is not even a guarantee that he will make an impact larger or smaller than what the Isles already put out there now.

But here is the thing, it is worth to find out.

Right now, the defense has the third least amount of goals allowed on the season in the entire league. The defense is deceptively tough to get by.

That is literally one of the reasons why the Islanders have 38 points in 34 games played.

They might not score a lot, and they might have the 24th worse PP% in the NHL, but they don’t give up goals.

This is their identity. The Islanders are not great, but they are solid enough.

They need to play that old school hockey to protect their leads, don’t give up a lot of goals.

They do.

However, they cannot lose that. They need to keep not giving up goals and that is what Toews can do.

The Islanders defense men are horrible at scoring he can come in and shuffle things up, bring a spark.

Scott Mayfield, who is a workhorse this season being fourth on the team in ATOI, has three goals. That leads all Islander defenseman.

So, they are not scoring.

That is a problem because I mentioned earlier how the offense has stagnated too.

That is why Toews is great. He has 19 points in 24 games played in the NHL this year, which shows scoring potential.

Yeah his rating in the AHL this year is a -2, but he does not need to be on the top lines.

Even if he comes to the NHL and stays at a -2, that is the same as Sbisa right now and better than Nick Leddy‘s current rating of -6.

Of course, this is all hypothetical, and player ratings do not mean that much these days, but point-blank, Toews will help the Islanders right now.

They once again just blew a two-goal lead to the Golden Knights, who are a great offensive team that shoots a lot, and the Islanders need a spark.

Toews does not need to log a lot of minutes, he just needs to be given a chance, he needs to show that he is an upgrade and a two-way player who can help the Islanders.

The best part is, I always thought we would be seeing a player like Toews for the first time later in the season when the Islanders had fallen out of it just for the sake of playing him.

Instead, there is a need for defensive depth and he has earned it during the time the Isles are in a playoff push still.

That merit alone should excite you.

Although we do not know what to expect from Toews, the NHL is frigging hard, we do know the timing is just right for him.

The Isles need fresh legs on defense to try to maintain their low goals against and Toews might surprise us with deep offensive production.

Either way, the youth movement might not be starting right this second, or even in the next few games, but with Ho-Sang and Toews both on the roster, because they are actually needed, that will not make me lose sleep that is for sure.

The Islanders realized they need more talent and better players. They might just have that in Toews.