NEWSLETTER
Jonathan Toews made it clear last week that he wasn’t a fan of the Brandon Hagel trade. And today he doubled down on his displeasure, telling the media that watching the movement leading up to Monday’s trade deadline was “disheartening.”
Jonathan Toews: "I'm not going to lie, it was disheartening to see a couple really good friends go… When you cultivate that chemistry and that friendship and that connection with your teammates, you want to keep building off of it. So it's definitely a little disheartening."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 23, 2022
Toews went on to say that “for the longest time, the thought never entered my mind to leave Chicago. And in this case, you can’t help but picture yourself and what it’d be like to play for another team and what that experience would bring. The thought pops into your mind. But Chicago is my home.”
Oof.
It’s not easy to conceptualize Jonathan Toews playing in another sweater, not after all that he has done for this franchise over the past 15 years, but if Toews’ heart isn’t here anymore, keeping him here for another year will be more of a burden than moving on from him this summer and allowing him to compete for one more Stanley Cup somewhere else.
Note: Toews has one year left on his deal, worth $10.5M
Now, Toews did say that despite his feelings on the trade deadline and the rebuild, Kyle Davidson has upheld his promise to keep the vets in the loop on his plans: “Kyle is sincere,” Toews said. He’s obviously had some tough decisions to make already. Looking forward to just being in touch with him on his thought process and what the near future looks like, at least this summer.”
That conversation this summer that Toews looks forward to having with Davidson should include the idea of Davidson and the Blackhawks finding him a new home via trade if Toews can’t get on board with the current direction of the team, something it honestly seems Toews isn’t capable of at this point.
On Monday after the deadline, Kyle Davidson said that Toews’ initial comments last week didn’t catch him by surprise, calling Toews an “extremely passionate person” and making it clear that he respects his point of view. Davidson also made it clear that while he respects Toews’ passion and position, he doesn’t think that “it’s the job of the player to have to worry about those decisions.” Essentially, Davidson appreciates Toews’ position, but he believes they have different responsibilities and ideas.
“I respect what he had to say. It doesn’t catch me off guard. That’s who he is. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and that’s why he’s been so great. He’s going to go into the Hall of Fame because of some of those traits.”
As I said last week, Toews will return to the United Center one day in the future and be celebrated for everything he did for this franchise, and no one will care that he wanted to leave and chase one more ring, but if that’s the plan, do it this summer. Don’t prolong the inevitable and have this turn into an ugly breakup a year for now. Unless Toews has a change of heart, it’s probably time for the old “It’s not you, it’s me” sit down between Toews and Kyle Davidson.
