Tonight will be the last game of Jonathan Toews’ Chicago Blackhawks career. General manager Kyle Davidson officially announced that the captain would not be re-signed, releasing the following statement:
I’ve had a number of conversations with Jonathan throughout the season about his future with the Blackhawks, and recently, we had the difficult conversation that we won’t be re-signing him this offseason. Tonight will be his final game as a Blackhawk, and it was very important to us to be able to provide the proper send off for Jonathan and our fans.
He has done so much for this organization, and no matter where he plays next, we’re excited our fans get the chance to show Jonathan exactly how much he means to them.
After the last few years have brought the departure of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and most recently, Patrick Kane, Toews was the final piece standing from the core that brought three Stanley Cup championships to Chicago.
While his game has deteriorated in recent years, Toews was, at one point, considered one of the greatest two-way centers in history. He won the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP at age-22, was a Selke Trophy finalist four times (winning once), and was included as part of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players in 2017.
With career-highs of 35 goals and 81 points (both reached in 2018-19), his offensive game was never the reason for excellence in Chicago. Instead, a commitment to defense and a reputation as one of the best leaders in the sport drove his greatness for the Blackhawks. He would routinely tilt the ice in his team’s favor by controlling play and was captain of one of the most dominant groups in recent NHL history.
Toews’ eight-year, $84M contract will expire at the end of this season, and it is unclear what the future will bring for the veteran center. He’ll be 35 before the month is up and has been limited by serious health issues the last few years. Toews missed all of 2020-21 with Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and was kept out of the lineup this year with it again.
Limited to just 14 goals and 30 points in 52 games, it would have been difficult to work out a soft landing like the one Davidson found Kane at the deadline. Those numbers and recent health issues will likely limit the market for him this summer, though if he wants to continue playing, teams should be willing to give the Blackhawks legend a chance.
This is the last symbolic move for Chicago away from the old regime. Davidson will now have a relatively clean slate to build a team, though it may still be several years until he can put together a competitive group.
Just two players—Seth Jones and Connor Murphy—are signed to one-way contracts past 2023-24, giving Davidson a blank canvas to work with. Even next year, the team has only $37.3M in salary commitments, meaning there will be plenty of cap space to try and coax extra assets out of contenders.
It’s been a difficult season for Blackhawks fans, watching the team tank and trade away one of the greatest offensive talents in NHL history. Now, they’ll be forced to say goodbye to the last part of the previous era and look forward to whatever comes next.
