After a seemingly quiet week, the trades have begun to heat up around the NHL. The Washington Capitals remain silent for the time being, but a new report could change that. It was recently stated that the Caps could be a good fit for Chicago Blackhawks forward and captain Jonathan Toews. As the Blackhawks plan to be sellers at the trade deadline, this article will do a little dive into the impact he could have as a Capital. The potential trade might be tough to pull off, but will be beneficial as it fills a need for the team.
Who Is Jonathan Toews & How Would He Benefit the Capitals?
Toews is a 34-year-old left-shot centreman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, currently playing for the Blackhawks. He was drafted third overall by the Hawks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and was able to make an impact at the NHL level right away. He played 64 games in his rookie year during the 2007-08 season after playing one more year in the NCAA, scoring 24 goals and adding 30 assists for 54 points. He is in his 15th NHL season and has been the team’s captain since the 2008-09 season and picked up the nickname “Captain Serious” because of his attitude. Through 1,060 games in his career, he has scored 371 goals and added 509 assists for 880 points, and has won three Stanley Cups.
Related: Capitals 2022-23 Trade Targets: Dmitry Kulikov
As I mentioned, Toews played his junior career with the University of North Dakota in the NCAA. He spent two seasons with the team, even being named the alternate captain during the 2006-07 season. He played alongside current Capital T.J. Oshie, thus further growing the potential connection between him and the Capitals. Through two seasons in the NCAA, he played 76 games scoring 40 goals and adding 45 assists for 85 points; a 1.12 points per game average.
Toews was able to establish himself as a leader that had a solid offensive touch with a sound two-way game. He seemed to have no negatives to his game and had plenty of attributes that made him NHL-ready right away. Throughout his career, he has been able to maintain that style of play at the pro level and will likely go down as one of the best Blackhawks of all time.
Bringing him in would allow the Capitals to spread out their forward lines a bit more, and give them a third-line centreman they can use and rely on, while they can move Evgeny Kuznetsov to the wing and play him alongside Nicklas Backstrom. The addition of Toews would also boost the offensive production of the bottom six while improving the team’s overall two-way play. He has always been a solid defensive player, so with his leadership and veteran mindset he could help guide some of the younger guys to follow suit and play a stronger all-around game.
Toews’ playoff experience would also be extremely beneficial for the team. While the current Capitals roster does have some remaining players that were with them during their Stanley Cup victory in 2018, they have a lot of new faces that haven’t been as far in the playoffs. Bringing in a guy like Toews would let the newer players see what it takes to make it all the way to the Cup Final, and win it all. His tenacity and playstyle are something every team in the league wants in their players going down the final stretch.
What Would It Cost the Capitals?
Toews is in the final year of his massive contract, which has a $10.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2022-23 season. For any deal to work, the Blackhawks would have to retain 50 percent of his contract, bringing the value for any team down $5.25 million. He would have to waive his no-movement clause (NMC) to join the Caps, meaning he may end up re-signing with the team for a decent price if he sees a solid chance at winning another Stanley Cup in the short-term future.
I think the Capitals will have some leverage here as Toews can practically choose where he ends up. With that being said they still have to try and move some money out to make a deal work. I think a realistic trade looks like the Capitals acquiring Toews at 50 percent retained in exchange for Anthony Mantha, Lars Eller, Connor McMichael, and a third-round draft pick.
It’s a hefty package, but Toews brings veteran leadership and a championship attitude as a multi-time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks. If I was the general manager, I’d be trying my hardest to get this deal done. He will likely only end up being a rental that leaves at the end of the season, but even if he does there is some freed-up cap space the team can use to add some more pieces in free agency. I like this deal a lot and I’ve always been a huge fan of his, I’d love to see the Capitals try and pull this off.
