Chicago Blackhawks: 1 important player has a huge preseason night

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team that made a lot of great improvements over the summer. Free-agent additions and trades should help make this team a competitive one again in a very good Central Division of the Western Conference. However, it is a player that is a legend in town that can make the biggest difference in 2021-22 and that is Jonathan Toews.

Toews didn’t play a single game in 2020-21 due to a health-related issue. They were a decent team early in the short season without him but he wasn’t there to help them keep it going when it mattered. Now, he is back and looking really good heading into this season.

You might remember how dominant Toews was during the NHL’s return to play bubble for the 2019-20 playoffs. He is now looking to get back to that level following his time away. He made a claim that he is fully ready for Opening Night now after the preseason.

The Hawks plan on using Toews on Opening Night as mentioned before. From there, it will be up to Toews’ conditioning and health to see how much he will play in the coming weeks. This is the type of player that can make or break this team in terms of making the playoffs.

It is nice that Toews believes he is playing on Wednesday. That probably means that he is for sure going to. After that, the question becomes how productive is he? Well, his last preseason game on Saturday should be a good indicator that he is good to go.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1447034506922373120

Toews scored two goals against the Minnesota Wild. It is only the preseason but he clearly has his hand-eye coordination down as he shows his ability to make awesome backhanded redirects on the power play. Honestly, there shouldn’t be any doubt at this point that Toews is going to be an impact player that can drive a line.

The entire Chicago Blackhawks roster will benefit from the return of Jonathan Toews.

The Chicago Blackhawks need their captain. There are a lot of good veterans around him but there are also some very good young players. All of them alike could use someone like Toews there to help them out. He is one of the best captains in the history of the National Hockey League and one of his biggest tasks will come this season with this current team.

Seeing Toews have a rather dominant game against the Minnesota Wild is a great sign. He was a very noticeable player in every way which is exactly what Jeremy Colliton needs to see from him. Expect a very good season from Jonathan Toews. Things kick off for him on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.