Blackhawks: Jonathan Toews Keys To Success, Expectations, and Profile

The Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews missed the entire last season, but this year there is a good chance he will be back. Let’s highlight some expectations and keys to success for the future Hall of Famer.

Jonathan Toews was missed by the Blackhawks last season.

Chicago is a better team when Toews is on the ice. He is not just someone that scores goals and wins faceoffs. He is the voice of the locker room and someone that can play all facets of the game. It definitely will be great to see him back in 2021.

Stats From The Past:

In his last season, the 2019-20 season, Toews put up 18 goals and 42 assists through 70 games. The captain really was having a strong season and followed that up with a terrific showing in the postseason against the Oilers and Golden Knights.

Keys To Success:

1. Take It One Game At A Time – while there have been a lot of positive reports about Toews’s heath, it is still in the best interest of him and the team to take things slowly. Toews does not need to play every game, his health is more important than that. So I think the biggest key for this season for Toews has to be taking it slowly to start the year.

2. Rebuild Chemistry – The last time Toews played his primary linemates were Dominik Kubalik and Brandon Saad. Now Saad is no longer on the team and there are a lot of other changes to the roster since Toews last played.

3. Be The Leader Again – Toews has a voice in the Hawks locker room there is no doubt about that. He is the face of the franchise. Well he missed the entire last season and in his absence, different players had to step up. Guys like Murphy, DeBrincat, and Kane were big voices in the locker room and now Toews will have to step into this new group with a lot of new players and take back that voice.

Expectations:

Toews has to be hungry for a chance at the playoffs. The way this team is built gives the Hawks their best chance in a long time at making the playoffs and being a real contender to win a series or two. Anything can happen once the team is in the playoffs and Toews knows that.

Blackhawks: Kirby Dach should get an extension as soon as possible

This season my bold prediction for Jonathan Toews is that he will take a little bit of time to get back into it, but by January he will be the real number one center this team missed last year. I also would go one step further and say Alex Nylander could potentially be a winger for him. My last prediction would be that with the addition of Tyler Johnson and Kirby Dach also coming back this season I think Toews will not be on the first-line power play to begin the year.