Chicago Blackhawks: Do Toews and Kane have one more run?

The Chicago Blackhawks have some big decisions to make over the next few years.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a weird spot with their organization right now. They are not very good but they have some very important key pieces still in place. With players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane still there ready to win, it is hard to say they are rebuilding but they have given off that vibe. They sent out a letter that they are going to retool their roster but a lot of their moves lately don’t reflect those promises.

The biggest issue with their roster, amongst a plethora of things, is their goaltending. They let Corey Crawford hit free agency by design and he signed a two-year deal with the New Jersey Devils. Now, they have Kevin Lankinen, Malcolm Subban, and Collin Delia in the mix for the job but neither of them is very good. All of them could develop into something good but there isn’t much evidence that says it will happen.

That makes you wonder if the Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane era is going to end in a whimper. Each of them, along with Duncan Keith, has some great hockey left in them but it doesn’t feel like the Hawks have another run with those guys leading the way. By the time they complete a rebuild, those guys will all either be retired (Keith) or in their late 30s (Kane and Toews).

It is also really hard to rebuild when guys like that are playing well. It is the making of a team with enough talent at the top to win some games but not enough at the bottom to stay afloat. That middle of the pack territory is a dangerous place to be in the NHL. They aren’t bad enough to have a good chance at the lottery and they aren’t good enough to be a perennial playoff contender.

Normally, the only time being in that spot is okay is when your arrow is pointing up. Well, the Hawks arrow is pointing straight down. As of right now, they don’t have another run in them with Toews and Kane. The things that Stan Bowman and John McDonough (now fired) have allowed to happen have ruined any chance of that happening again.

The fairest thing that the Hawks could do for Toews and Kane is trading them to a contender. Each of them has a hefty cap hit but it is only for three more years. Any team that is a big move away from winning the Stanley Cup would be very smart to look at both of them. Moving either of them wouldn’t be as hard as some people think. They might not have another Stanley Cup run in them with these two at the helm but they are always going to be all-time great Blackhawks.