It’s not the first time the Blackhawks have seen him since he left, but with Chicago visiting the Red Wings Friday night, all eyes will be on Patrick Kane in another revenge game for No. 88. That meant Blackhawks reporters got a chance to talk to Kane about longtime teammate Jonathan Toews, meaning the two strangely shared the spotlight for a bit in 2025.
Toews still hasn’t been seen much in Chicago, but he’s still dominated many of the storylines around the Blackhawks over the past few months. After playing his last game at the United Center at the end of the 2022-23 season, Toews all but disappeared due to ongoing health issues including chronic immune response syndrome. He said he would be taking the 2023-24 season off, but many expected him to hang up his skates forever.
In November, fans finally got an update on Toews’ recovery journey when he posted on Instagram that he had undergone a successful detox in India known as Ayurveda. Then, in December, a bombshell interview with GQ revealed that Toews was leaving the door open to a potential return. A few days later, Frank Seravalli uncovered that Toews had resumed skating and was “feeling the best that he has in years.”
On Friday, Kane put into words what many Blackhawks fans were already hoping.
“I’d love to see him come back and play for the Blackhawks. That would be amazing. When you look at his career and how storied it is and how much success he had as a Blackhawk, you don’t want to see him wear another jersey.”
Patrick Kane
While it would certainly be a powerful sentiment for Toews to return to Chicago, it would certainly be a shock at this point. The Blackhawks made a conscious decision to turn the page, letting Toews and Kane walk to develop the next generation of leaders. It would require a complete about-face now to bring Toews back in any capacity.
Additionally, there’s no way of predicting Toews’ ability at this point. He was a superstar for 15 years in Chicago, but it’s been almost two full years since he’s been on the NHL ice and he’s 36 years old.
“Over that course of time, the game changes. 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.”
Patrick Kane
While the reasons Toews shouldn’t come back to the Blackhawks outnumber the reasons he should, Kane made the case for him anyway. Chicago is still in search of leaders, and no one fills that role better than The Captain. Plus, Blackhawks fans are in desperate need of something to root for with their team in a scorched-earth rebuild, and Toews gives them just that.
“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.”
Patrick Kane
