Davidson: Blackhawks 'not anywhere near' dealing Kane, Toews
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Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said the team has not in engaged in any trade talks regarding veterans Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
“We’re not anywhere near that point,” Davidson said of potentially moving the pending unrestricted free agents.
Kane and Toews are both signed at identical $10.5 million cap hits as they enter the final season of the eight-year deals they signed in 2014.
The 33-year-old Kane had 26 goals and 92 points in 78 games last season, averaging more than a point per game for the fourth straight season.
Toews, 34, posted 12 goals and 37 points in 71 games last season after missing the entire previous year due to chronic immune response syndrome.
Entering his 15th season with the Blackhawks, Toews said in July he was not interested in being a part of the team's long-term rebuild.
"At the end of the day, we're talking about a five-plus-year process, according to (general manager) Kyle [Davidson]," Toews told The Athletic. "So, that part of it doesn't sound appealing to me at all."
Toews, who has been captain of the Blackhawks since 2008, helped the franchise to three Stanley Cups from 2010-2015. The team, however, has reached the playoffs just once since 2017 and hasn't won a playoff round since their Stanley Cup championship in 2015.
Davidson, who was named general manager in March after taking over on an interim basis in October, has been clear on his plan to enter a rebuild has already made several trades to move the process forward.
Davidson dealt forward Brandon Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning in February and made major splashes at the draft earlier this month, dealing winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators and centre Kirby Dach to the Montreal Canadiens. The flurry of moves helped see the Blackhawks end up with three first-round selections in this year's draft and they also own the Lightning's first-round pick (top-10 protected) in each of the next two seasons.
Davidson said earlier at the draft he would like to see Kane and Toews stay with the Blackhawks but noted he would ask both players for their input as well.
"Yeah, I think there's value in having guys like that that can help mold and set the bar and set the example for younger players coming in," Davidson said after trading DeBrincat. "But that's a two-way street and they have to want to be a part of that. But you know what, to this point we haven't heard otherwise. Again, we're going to be very open with them, very transparent.
"Today was a day that I'm not sure any people saw coming, necessarily. Maybe they did. But it's hard to accept nonetheless, which I get. But it's a necessary step that we had to take to get this on a track to where we want to be and not try and just make small tweaks along the way. We had to make a big shift. We had to change things."