The Blackhawks have to be missing Jonathan Toews right now

When Marian Hossa retired in 2017, the Chicago Blackhawks struggled to replace the loss of Hossa on the ice. Hossa was a forward the Hawks could use in all situations, someone Chicago could rely on to forecheck and steal pucks while also scoring some big goals for the team, like his 26 in his final season. The same way the Blackhawks struggled to replace Hossa, they are now struggling to replace Jonathan Toews.

Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews played 1,067 games with the Chicago Blackhawks before the team chose not to re-sign him after the 2022-23 NHL Season.

Toews, who has not officially retired, has not played since. Last season, the Blackhawks held off naming a captain out of respect for the player that wore the C for over a decade. But now, Nick Foligno holds the captaincy and Connor Bedard has become the franchise’s next elite center.

While Jonathan Toews has not played for the Blackhawks in 96 games, the Hawks can still feel his absence on the ice, especially in the face-off dot.

During Toews’ final season in Chicago, he played in 53 games. Despite missing 29 games, Toews still led the Blackhawks in face-off wins by a wide margin. Toews won 594 face-offs, compared to Max Domi’s 445, Jason Dickinson’s 368 and Sam Lafferty’s 219. The year prior, playing in 71 games, Toews won 799 face-offs (328 better than the next Blackhawk). His face-off percentage in 2021-22 was 59 percent.

During the 2019-20 season, Toews had a 57.3 face-off percentage, winning 856 face-offs (543 better than the next Blackhawks).

Over the course of Toews’ career, his face-off percentage never dipped below 50 percent, in fact he averaged a 57.3 percent in the dot. Last year without Toews the Hawks relied heavily on Jason Dickinson to win draws. Dickinson finished the year at 50 percent with 618 face-off wins.

This season the Hawks continue to rely on Dickinson who leads the team with 97 face-off wins while playing on the third line. The Blackhawks are 27th in the league in face-offs, with a win percentage of 46.4 percent. The team’s worst stat falls in the defensive zone where Chicago is 31st in the league with a 40.7 percentage.

The Blackhawks could use a center like Jonathan Toews right now, and not just for the games, but also for practicing with Connor Bedard.

A lot of time has been spent talking about how Bedard could have benefited from playing with Patrick Kane, but the same could be true about Jonathan Toews.

Over the course of Bedard’s two seasons, he holds a 37.2 percent face-off percentage, but those numbers have been worse this year. Through 14 games he has won 39 of 91 face-offs good for just 30 percent in the dot.

While face-offs might not determine the outcome of the game, the Blackhawks are spending the first ten or so seconds of a shift chasing the puck, instead of setting the tone with possession.

Last night, Patrick Kane made his second return to Chicago as a visitor. It’s still weird seeing him in an opposing team’s jersey [let alone a Red Wings one at that]. But it is the absence of Jonathan Toews that still looms over this team.

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