Chicago Blackhawks: Outlook of Toews and Kane’s future with them

The Chicago Blackhawks have been on the outside looking in for the past few seasons but how long will Jona8than Toews and Patr8ick Kane put up with it?

The Chicago Blackhawks have gotten everything they could have asked for and more from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Toews was the third overall pick in 2006 and Kane was the first overall pick in 2007. It was clear from the beginning that they were a sign of a bright future for Chicago. A bright future they gave.

As it is well documented, Toews and Kane were wildly successful. They led the Hawks to Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015. They have both won individual player awards that are mostly needed to be in the Hall of Fame. They have both won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. It has been an incredible ride for the two greatest players this franchise has ever had.

Well, things have not been going great for Chicago since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. They haven’t been in the playoffs since then which is no fault of Toews and Kane. They have both been very good since the last time they won the Stanley Cup but the team has been pretty awful around them. Things would have been even worse if these two weren’t going well.

Jonathan Toews had 18 goals and 42 assists for 60 points in 70 games. Kane had 33 goals and 51 assists for 84 points in those same 70 games. They each do what they need to do in their roles for the team even now. Kane is the elite scoring winger and Toews is the impressive two-way center. They don’t play on the same line to spread the wealth and it has worked for years but they don’t have the depth anymore.

So if the Hawks continue to be bad, are they just going to sit here and waste the final years of their prime? Stan Bowman has made some terrible decisions over the past few seasons that have allowed the Hawks to fall the way that they have. Toews and Kane each have three years left after this one at 10.5 million dollars against the salary cap.

These two might deserve to move on and take another crack at the Stanley Cup. In order for Chicago to properly execute a rebuild, they might need to move on from them as well. It depends if the organization sees a rebuild as necessary. They would certainly get a big return for each of them, especially Kane. The only issue is that they both make a lot of money and not every team could take on that type of cap hit. There are a lot of big decisions to be made by Chicago over the next few seasons.

It wouldn’t really be a popular transaction if they ever moved either of them and it wasn’t their time to retire. They are lifelong Blackhawks no matter how it goes down. They are both guys who deserve statues and will have their numbers retired en route to the Hall of Fame. It is, however, fair, to wonder if they will retire as Chicago Blackhawks.