Blackhawks GM preparing to turn the page on the past.

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Ryan Hall
June 25, 2023 (1:36)

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General manager Kyle Davidson has made a bold statement with his roster configuration after next season. He decided to trade the roster of all the remaining talent, including Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to bring in a new era for the Blackhawks.

This movement has set up the Blackhawks completely devoid of forwards after the 2023-2024 season. Currently, the Blackhawks sit just under $40 million in cap space.

Davidson explained why he decided to move off of Toews with the idea that if they were to remain with the team going into the new era this could stunt the growth of the new players.

»I don't know if it's necessarily putting the past behind us... It's more clearing the deck to some extent to allow the organic growth for young players into leadership roles and offer this new era of Blackhawks players the same opportunity that Toews, (Patrick) Kane, [Duncan] Keith, [Brent] Seabrook were all offered when they came into the league.»

It was hard to watch as Toews skated around the rink while waving his hand to the crowd and trying to hold back his tears knowing his time was over.

Davidson continued with his explanation.

When there's a player like Jonathan or Patrick in your locker room, you defer to them. You just let them handle the leadership and there's not a lot of development opportunity there. So now we believe that it was beneficial for this next group to allow leaders to emerge, and form that relationship with Luke [Richardson], form that relationship with myself. In the locker room, be the voice rather than deferring to someone who's been here for so long. It gives them an opportunity to step up and be the new leadership group of the franchise.

"It's just one of those things that, in the situation we're in, these tough decisions have to be made. And this is just another one of those. I get the potential disappointment because they're legends. They've done so much for the city, so much for the organization and brought so much success that's only natural. But we've got to do what we think is best for the growth of the team and this was something that we thought was best for them."

It will take time for the fans to adjust to seeing this new look without Toews and Kane at the helm. However, once Davidson has finished his roster construction and has Connor Bedard sitting on the number one centre position along with many new faces that'll be high-priced talent, I feel fans will feel much better and wish their former beloved captain and linemate the best.