Toews has one season left on his contract before he has the option to test the free agent market. Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson has expressed interest in Toews being kept on to help guide the rebuild, but Toews seems reluctant to participate in that. “At the end of the day, we’re talking about a five-plus-year process, according to Kyle,” Toews said. “So that part of it doesn’t sound appealing to me at all. I can’t speak for Kaner, but I definitely feel that the amount of turnover our team has gone through every single year these last three or four years, that’s where it gets really, really draining. And exhausting. You have a guy like Alex DeBrincat who was under Kaner’s wing. And I like to think that Kirby and I had that bond in some ways, too. And out they go, out the door. Over and over, we’ve seen that turnover. I’m learning to be more patient, but there’s no doubt that timeline is pretty daunting, and pretty exhausting to think about. So I’m not going to sit here and say what I’m going to do or what the future holds for me, because I really don’t know.” He recently turned 34, so if Chicago is looking at a five-year rebuild, then he might not have another good chance to compete with them before he retires. With that in mind, it's not unreasonable to think that he might sign elsewhere next summer.

"Yeah. There's definitely a place for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane moving forward. I don't think there's any question about that," Davidson said. The bigger question seems to be if Toews and Kane would like to stick with the Blackhawks through their rebuild. Toews has expressed some uncertainty about his future and both of them are getting ready for the final season of their current contract. Davidson did add that he had "healthy, open and productive" conversations with both players during their exit interviews.

Toews' contract will run through the 2022-23 campaign and he doesn't know what will happen beyond that. He's spent his entire career to date with the Blackhawks, but the team entering a rebuilding phase has raised questions for him. For now he's focused on being in the moment, but he also feels that things have changed. "It felt like a family, it felt like there was some real togetherness, just understanding of the tradition, especially when you’re around guys like Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull and Tony Esposito and Denis Savard," Toews said, referring to his early times with the Blackhawks. "And I could go on and on with the conventions, although admittedly, not a lot of guys like taking a weekend to travel when you’re at home in the middle of a short summer, but once you’re there you enjoy it. It was always great to have that interaction with the fans. I don’t know if it’s COVID but so many things have changed, it’s just been so different. But those are just part of the traditions of being a Blackhawk that are really special, that you’re trying to pass on and instill or at least remind these young guys of what we really have here and how special that is. There’s a lot to it, obviously."

Toews did all of his damage before the seven-minute mark of this game, as he registered the primary assist on Erik Gustafsson’s goal (1-0) before adding one of his own just a few minutes later. The Blackhawks captain finished the night with a plus-2 rating, two penalty minutes, one shot on goal and one hit in 17:12 of ice time. The 33-year-old actually has six points in his last five outings. He’s up to 12 goals and 37 points in 69 games this season. Toews clearly isn’t the player he once was. He’s still useful, but his $10.5 million contract suggests he should be more than serviceable.