The Chicago Blackhawks need Jonathan Toews to be in the lineup this coming season. With the reports that Toews is still without a timetable for return, the Hawks need to hope that he can be back in the lineup.
The Chicago Blackhawks have made a lot of moves this offseason trying to improve the team.
Adding Seth Jones, Tyler Johnson, Marc-Andre Fleury, and many more guys is not going to be worth it if at the end of the day the team is without their number one center again. This franchise needs their number one guy on the ice if they are going to compete for a playoff spot.
Obviously, Toews’s health comes first. If he cannot be on the ice again to start the season then the team will push forward. Toews’s health is what matters here. From a competitive standpoint though, being without Jonathan Toews again this season totally hurts the Blackhawks’ chances to make the playoffs.
Chicago gave up both David Kampf and Pius Suter this summer. Those two guys won the most faceoffs for the Blackhawks last season…. after that, it was Dylan Strome. So if Toews were to miss the season then the Blackhawks centermen depth would be Kirby Dach, Tyler Johnson, Dylan Strome, Adam Gaudette, and Philipp Kurashev. Still, not a bad group, but Toews pushes that to a contender if he tops the list.
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I guess fans won’t know until the season begins on whether or not guys like Toews and Jake McCabe who missed time last season will be good to go. If Toews is in the lineup the team will have an elite centerman, an elite defenseman, and an elite goalie all in their lineup that was not here last season.
Chicago could be a fun and competitive group to watch this coming season if all goes well during August and September. The team added so many new players to their lineup, but at the end of the day, it is getting their captain back that matters most to this franchise. Toews is one of the best Blackhawks in the lineup no matter how many goals he scores. He is a great leader and a great all-around player that the Blackhawks missed last season.
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