DETROIT — As former Blackhawks legend Jonathan Toews mulls a potential NHL comeback, another former Hawks legend in Patrick Kane has some thoughts about the challenges and rewards that might lie ahead for Toews.
The two of them have talked “a little bit” recently, Kane said Friday, and he figures they’ll likely talk more soon.
Toews has publicly resurfaced during the last month, and he has also reportedly resumed skating and drawn some interest from NHL teams, who aren’t sure whether he might try to return late this season or for the start of next season. Kane said it “would be great” to see No. 19 back in the league.
But if Toews does try to play again, it won’t be easy as a 36-year-old coming off nearly two years away from hockey. Kane, who missed the first half of last season recovering from major hip surgery, knows that as well as anyone.
“Over that course of time, the game changes,” Kane said. “It’s not the same game that he probably remembers. It’s probably faster; it’s probably different in some ways. When you’re in it, maybe you don’t realize those changes as much when you’re on a team, playing on a day-to-day basis.
“Even this year, I missed five games and came back, and it’s like you’re kind of easing your way into it, feeling it out. I’m sure that would be a little bit of a time frame for him, if he came back, to feel it out.”
Kane does have faith, however, in Toews’ physical strength and motivation.
“If he’s coming back and he feels good, he’s healthy, he’s got a lot of energy and has the desire to play at a high level, that’s great,” Kane added. “That’s going to outweigh any other thing, no matter how much time he’s had off or what the game is like now.”
Toews returning to the Hawks seems even less plausible than him returning to the NHL in general. Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson clearly signaled a turning of the page — from one generation to the next — when letting Toews walk in 2023. And Toews probably wouldn’t enjoy toiling away in a rebuild again, either.
But those facts didn’t stop Kane — despite his new allegiance to the Red Wings — from listening to his heart and campaigning Friday for the Hawks to bring Toews back, giving a quote many Chicagoans loved hearing.
“When you look at his career, how storied it is and how much success he had as a Blackhawk, sometimes you don’t want to see him wear another jersey,” Kane said. “You would rather see him finish his career as a Blackhawk.
“I think that would be a great story and good for the franchise, too, [to] bring some excitement back. I think he would help out a lot of younger players there. But I don’t know if that’s really in the cards. That’s just my thinking.”