Chicago Blackhawks should continue their tear down during the 2022 NHL Draft

Davidson needs to trade all available assets either during the draft or after and start from scratch.

Davidson should not stop dealing after he potentially trades away DeBrincat. The new Blackhawks general manager should also have a long conversation with team stalwarts Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane about waiving their no movement clauses.

Both are set to be free agents after this season. Toews has been one of the greatest captains in franchise history but all those years of physical play and doing the dirty work has caught up with him.

Toews’ production has declined as he has scored just 30 goals and registered 67 assists during the past two seasons he has skated. He sat out the 2020-2021 season due to an illness and it was great that he came back last season. He just was not the same player Hawks’ fans were used to seeing when he returned. His production decline may not warrant another big money contract.

After last season’s trade deadline, Toews made it clear he is not exactly thrilled to be a part of a rebuild.

The best thing the Blackhawks can do is trade their longtime captain away like they did with Duncan Keith last offseason. Toews still has some value with his leadership and faceoff ability. Getting back a conditional pick when the Chicago Blackhawks need to get as many good young players as possible would be worth the trade.

Kane would love to stick around for the rebuild so long as DeBrincat is with the team. If the rumors turn out to be true that DeBrincat is all but gone, than Kane might be inclined to waive his no movement clause.

Kane is still playing some of his best hockey so he could fetch a nice return for the rebuild. While it would be hard to see one of the most skilled players in franchise history play for another team, it might best in the long run for both parties to go their separate ways.

Kane will be 34 next season and if the Chicago Blackhawks rebuild goes quickly, he will probably be 37 or 38 years old before the Hawks are ready to hoist another Stanley Cup. At that point, he may not be playing at a high level.

Although Kane is aging like a fine wine.

If the Hawks were to re-sign him after next season, they would be committing significant salary cap resources during a rebuild. Instead, the Hawks could flip him for valuable future assets and let him go chase another Stanley Cup with a contender.

The Blackhawks should also see if they can get anything for Dylan Strome and their other restricted free agents.

The only player the Blackhawks will have to keep is Jones based on his contract extension kicking in which makes it hard to move him.