Jonathan Toews, the longtime captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, will play his final game with the team on Thursday, as Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson confirmed that they will not be re-signing the 34-year-old forward after this season. Toews made his return to the lineup on April 1 after taking nearly two months off to recover from long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. He has scored 14 goals and earned 30 points in 52 games this season.
The Blackhawks, with a 26-49-6 record, are currently 30th in the NHL standings and will conclude their regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Davidson commented on the difficult decision to part ways with Toews, saying, “Tonight will be his final game as a Blackhawk. It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but I told him that wherever he ends up playing next, he’ll be a Blackhawk forever.”
Davidson’s decision to rebuild the team rather than continue building around existing players led to trading away and not re-signing some top players, including Toews and Patrick Kane. Toews has recently expressed uncertainty about his future in the NHL.
The Blackhawks’ future will be focused on developing young talent, with Davidson stating, “This is a rebuild, they take time, you can’t take any shortcuts, and we’re just going to let that develop over time and see where it goes.” Fans can look forward to the arrival of first-round pick Lukas Reichel and possibly last season’s seventh-overall pick, defenseman Kevin Korchinski.
Toews, who was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2006, has played 1,066 NHL career-regular season games, scoring 371 goals and 882 points. He has been an integral part of the team’s three Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
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