Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is taking time away from hockey in the 2023-24 season but isn’t retiring, he said in a social media post Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Toews spent the last 15 seasons with the Blackhawks. He served as the captain of the Blackhawks from 2008 to 2023.
- The 35-year-old has recorded 372 goals and 511 assists through 1,067 career NHL games.
- Toews played just 53 games in 2022-23. He missed several weeks as he recovered from long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. The Blackhawks said they would not re-sign Toews following the season as his contract expired.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Can Toews still play in the NHL?
Absolutely. Even at age 35, even with his two-way game in steep decline, and even with all his health issues, he’d be a pretty darn good bottom-six center for a contending team, a guy who could play 15 minutes a night and either kill penalties or play down low on the power play (likely not both anymore, though). Yes, he’s a shell of the player he once was, but he still had a respectable 15 goals and 31 points in 53 games last season, often playing alongside AHL-level talent. And regardless of how much he can produce, you can be sure there are general managers and coaches around the league that would love to have Toews’ leadership and experience in their locker rooms. Few players carry as much respect within the league as Toews does.
But the question isn’t whether he can play, but whether he wants to play. Whether he thinks his body can hold up for another full season, whether he’s willing to take on a lesser role on the ice and in the room after being The Man in Chicago for the entirety of his career. Throughout his illness, Toews has defiantly insisted that he can once again be a great player. He doesn’t want to be just another guy. So his heart — and his self-belief — have to be in it. As he put it to me in April, “If it’s not a hell yeah, it’s a hell no.” — Lazerus
Why didn’t the Blackhawks re-sign him?
If the Blackhawks had told Toews they wanted him back and offered him a contract, I believe he’d have signed it. But general manager Kyle Davidson wanted to clear the deck for the next generation of Blackhawks — which now includes Connor Bedard, who certainly could have benefitted from having someone like Toews teach him the ropes of becoming a Chicago icon — to form their own leadership group.
“It’s about providing this new wave the same opportunity that this past era was granted when they entered the NHL,” Davidson said. “Just a clean slate, an opportunity to step up and step in and work through the leadership development on their own terms, rather than deferring and just leaving that to someone else. It forces some people to step up and experience things that they wouldn’t experience if Jonathan were in the room.” — Lazerus
What Toews said
“I cannot deny my love for the game of hockey and still feel the passion for competing at the highest level,” Toews wrote.
Required reading
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
