Jonathan Toews on ‘disheartening’ trades, uncertain future with Blackhawks

When the interim tag was removed and Kyle Davidson was introduced as general manager of the Blackhawks, he talked about his plan for reshaping the franchise going forward.

“We’re going to look at more of a rebuild here,” Davidson said on March 1. “There are some things that we really need to fix that are going to take time. We’re not going to put a timeline on it, whether it’s three, five [years], I don’t have that answer right now. That will be determined as we proceed.”

Two days later, when asked about his future with the Blackhawks, captain Jonathan Toews said, “I don’t know if I really understand what [a rebuild] means yet.”

How Davidson approached Monday’s NHL trade deadline gave Toews a good picture of how the GM plans to go about rebuilding his roster. Brandon Hagel, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Ryan Carpenter were all dealt away and draft picks were stockpiled. The question now, and one that will hover over the franchise’s off-season, is if there’s any role for Toews and Patrick Kane, who both see their contracts expire after the 2022-23 season.

Toews saw those moves, trades made by a franchise thinking about next season and beyond, and it was difficult to process.

“It’s become pretty clear the direction we’re heading in as a franchise and I’m not going to lie, it was disheartening to see a couple of good friends go, regardless of what’s to come in the future,” Toews said Wednesday. “I think this group has been through quite a bit this year on and off the ice. Obviously, life’s been weird, it’s been hard for a lot of people.

“There have been a lot of challenges that these guys have grown through as a group and when you kind of cultivate that chemistry and that friendship and that connection with your teammates, I think