At the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft, Toews was selected in the sixth round, 117th overall by the Brandon Wheat Kings. Toews began his career at Shattuck-Saint Mary's with its Tier I Bantam team. At the beginning of his second season with Shattuck-Saint Mary's, Toews and teammate Kelsey Tessier left the team and school after being expelled for cheating. Toews received an old copy of achemistry exam from a classmate to use as a study guide for an upcoming exam. When Toews wrote the exam, he was concerned about running out of time and wrote, verbatim, the answers from the old test. When his professor noticed the similarities between Toews' answers and those of the old test, he was expelled as he had already been on academic probation. As a result, both players moved to Superior, Colorado to play for the Colorado Outlaws midget "AAA" team of the Midwest Elite Hockey League, where they lived with their Shattuck-Saint Mary's teammate Brett Kostolansky's parents. Toews returned to Shattuck-Saint Mary's the following season on a probationary basis. During his first season with the prep team at Shattuck-Saint Mary's, Toews was named to the Manitoba roster for the ice hockey tournament at the 2007 Canada Games. There, he helped the team to their best finish in the tournament's history, losing 6–4 to Ontario in the gold-medal game. In the off-season before his final year at Shattuck-Saint Mary's, Toews gave a verbal commitment to attend the University of North Dakota and play for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey team beginning in the 2008–09 season. Heading into the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Toews was ranked 79th among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He had previously been ranked 71st among North American skaters in January 2008. On June 21, 2008, Toews was drafted in the third round, 66th overall by the New York Islanders.
Professional
On September 9, 2011, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Toews from the New York Islanders for future considerations. On September 23, 2011, the Blackhawks assigned Toews to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The IceHogs loaned Toews to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL on October 13, 2011. Toews signed a one-year contract with the Bakersfield Condors for the 2012–13 season. In January Toews was placed on waivers and claimed by the Idaho Steelheads. On September 4, 2013 Toews signed a contract with the Reading Royals.
