Chicago Blackhawks: Can Toews and Kane do it again?

The Chicago Blackhawks got career years offensively out of their two veteran superstars, but can they recreate that again in 2019-20?

The Chicago Blackhawks have gotten everything and then some out of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They have each won lots of individual trophies, been the two best forwards on three Stanley Cup Championship teams, and led their team to so many postseason appearances. They have both bloomed into two of the best players to ever play for the organization.

They have done a lot of that playing on separate lines. Kane has almost exclusively played on the second line right wing while Toews played as the team’s number one center. In 2018-19, that changed a little bit. They traded for Dylan Strome and he found instant chemistry with Blackhawks left wing Alex DeBrincat. That allowed the coaching staff to try Toews with Kane on the top line.

To say it worked would be an understatement because both of them had a career-high in points despite reaching their age-30 seasons. It isn’t really that surprising for Kane because he only eclipsed his former career high by four points but he helped Toews revive his offensive game. Toews finished the year with 35 goals and 46 assists for 81 points in 82 games. Kane had 44 goals and 66 assists for 110 points. It was an incredible year for both of them.

The question facing the Blackhawks is whether or not they can do it again? If Toews and Kane can both put up similar offensive numbers to 2018-19 while the team plays much better defensively, this should be a playoff team. Strome and DeBrincat will have to find that same chemistry from a year before as well in order for Toews and Kane to stick together.

There is no reason that if they are both healthy, they won’t do it again. They both play a game that they can age gracefully playing and their offensive production should be very respectable once again. It may all fall on Kane again to be able to use his vision and playmaking ability to get the top line to where it needs to be but Toews is good enough to play with Kane. He is the second most skilled forward on the Blackhawks so there is nobody Kane would rather play on a line with.

If either of these two takes a step back, it could be what makes the Blackhawks a non-playoff team and both Toews and Kane know it. They are a team with more depth on paper, but they are going to need to be at their best to maximize that new found depth. Kane and Toews have both shown they are capable and can do whatever is needed for this team to succeed.