HockeyFeed
Toews wants to produce more offense, but he may not have the tools to do it.
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Toews wants to produce more offense, but he may not have the tools to do it.

A tough situation for the elite center.

HockeyFeed

HockeyFeed

At no point as his status as one of the National Hockey League's elite players every been in question, but despite that Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews wasn't happy with his overall performance last season, feeling he failed to produce enough offense.

"I think I have to just look at myself and take responsibility for that,” he said Friday, as per The Athletic's Scott Powers. “I think this year, regardless of who I’m playing with, whether it’s Hossa or anybody else, I think the two of us will definitely want to have a comeback year and just have fun and play with some excitement and play loose and let that offense come to us the way it didn’t quite last year. I think we were fighting it a little bit for a while there.”

It's hard to put all of the blame on Toews shoulders, even though given his massive contract it may be tempting at times to do so, he is just one player after all on a line of three. This season will bring even more questions for Toews, and likely will present him with a massive challenge as well, with three of his four most common linemates no longer with the team. Aside from the aforementioned Marian Hossa all of  Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrew Ladd left over the summer.

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While it's certainly good for Toews to put some pressure on himself and hold himself accountable, especially as a captain, let's hope he gets a little more help from his linemates this season.