Toews: Blackhawks long-term rebuild 'doesn't sound appealing to me'

Entering his 15th season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews does not sound 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 on Tuesday. "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 ownership of the Lightning's first-round pick (top-10 protected) in each of the next two seasons.

Trading some of the team's most promising young players doesn’t sit well with Toews, who along with Patrick Kane is entering the final year of his current contract.

"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," Toews said. "You have a guy like Alex DeBrincat who was under Kaner's wing. And I like to think