It might truly be the end of an era in Chicago by the end of the season.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said on Tuesday that he is feeling better from his symptoms of long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome, but he has also started to recognize that this could be his last few weeks playing hockey in Chicago with his future up in the air.
“Regardless of what happens in the future this summer, it’s definitely on my mind that this could be my last few weeks here in Chicago as a Blackhawk,” Toews said to the media after the Blackhawks’ morning skate. “So, that’s definitely very important for me to just go out there, enjoy the game, soak it in and just really appreciate everything I’ve been able to be a part of here in Chicago — and show my appreciation to the fans, as well.”
Toews last played exactly two months ago on Jan. 28, and has since been out of the lineup while dealing with symptoms of both CIRS, which caused him to miss the entirety of the 2020-21 season, and long COVID, which started when he got COVID-19 at some point during his recovery from CIRS.
Toews is currently in the final year of his eight-year contract with a $10.5 million cap hit that he signed with the Blackhawks in the 2014 offseason, a deal that matched longtime teammate Patrick Kane’s extension at the same time.
As a result, both players were on the trade market this season. While Kane was dealt to the New York Rangers, Toews took himself off the market in February as he didn’t think he’d recover to the point where he’d be of the benefit to a playoff team.
“You can’t really explain because people won’t understand,” Toews said. “It’s not like a knee injury or shoulder injury where you lay under an MRI and your proof is right there. It has been one of those complicated things. Even for me, it’s been really challenging at times to figure out what’s going on.”
Toews had a bit of a bounce-back season before he left the lineup, with 14 goals, 14 assists, and 28 points in 46 games, on pace to easily surpass his career worst season in 2021-22, where he had 12 goals, 25 assists and 37 points in 71 games.
If this is the end of his career, Toews will leave the game with 371 goals, 509 assists and 880 points in 1,060 games, plus whatever he does in these final few weeks of the season if he returns. He’s spent the entirety of his 15-year career with the Blackhawks, winning three Stanley Cups, one Conn Smythe trophy and one Selke trophy in the NHL, along with two Olympic gold medals at the international level.
More must-reads: