Hawks captain pulls himself from trade market for unfortunate reasons
The Chicago Blackhawks have been one of many rebuilding teams that have stolen the spotlight ahead of the NHL's trade deadline. With several marquee names rumoured to be available, including cornerstones Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks were going to be reaping the rewards of future assets by early March.
Trading Toews was always going to present a tough situation mainly because of his $10.5 million cap hit. Even at 50% retention, not many teams were going to line up to acquire his services for $5.25 million. Nevertheless, there was a market for the veteran centerman and as we saw with the Ryan O'Reilly trade, a third team can jump in and broker a better deal by retaining additional salary.
Unfortunately Toews has been dealing with health issues over the past couple seasons and it was announced that both parties have made a joint decision that he needs more time to recover and therefore will not be traded at the deadline.
Toews penned a statement regarding the situation:
"First of all, thank you to the fans and all those who have shown concern about my absence. I'm still dealing with the symptoms of Long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome.
It has been really challenging to play through these symptoms. In the last few weeks, it has reached the point where I had no choice but to step back and concentrate on getting healthy. I am thankful for the patience and support of my teammates, the coaching staff, and the entire Blackhawks organization."
The former Conn Smythe winner appeared in 48 games this season, scoring 14 goals and adding 14 helpers. Over the course of his career he has played in 1,060 games, scored 371 goals and 880 points, while chipping in with 45 goals and 119 points in 137 playoff games. He would've been a welcomed addition to any contending team's top-9 and would've brought about a lot of experience, not only as a captain but as a playoff hero.
