Maple Leafs' Brad Treliving Wants To 'Change The DNA' - Is Jonathan Toews The Answer?

   

Maple Leafs' Brad Treliving Wants To 'Change The DNA' -  Is Jonathan Toews The Answer? cover image

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to look quite different next season. Following GM Brad Treliving's message of the need to "change the DNA," reports emerged that three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews is 100 percent ready to make an NHL comeback bid. While there's going to be no shortage of suitors for the former Chicago Blackhawks, should the Maple Leafs go after him? If so, at what cost?

Jonathan Toews’ Legacy of Leadership and Two-Way Play

There is no question about the pedigree an NHL team gets when signing Jonathan Toews. A 15-year career with the Chicago Blackhawks saw his two-way game and leadership qualities become a hallmark of the club’s championships, which forged a dynasty. In addition to scoring 372 goals and 511 assists in 1,067 NHL games, Toews routinely finished high when it came to face-off percentages, including an impressive 63.1 percent in his last active season (2022-23).

Health Concerns for Toews

Toews' performance and numbers began to decline in 2020, with him citing Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) due to the lingering effects of long-COVID. He missed the entire 2020-21 season to deal with this, before returning in 2021-22 where he scored 12 goals and 25 assists in 71 games. Dealing with the effects on his health, while the club was stripping its core and entering a rebuild, no doubt affected the star’s ability to replicate his past performance.

Toews Comeback Attempt

The 37-year-old Toews has made it clear he is 100 percent ready to move forward with a comeback after undergoing several treatments and therapies to push past those health concerns, including an "Ayurvedic Detox" in India, which he documented on social media.

 
 

Maple Leafs Need Improvement on Center Depth

The Maple Leafs entered the 2024-25 NHL season with Auston Matthews as their first-line center, followed by John Tavares on the second line. From there, the center ice positions were more fluid, with Max Domi mostly filling the third-line spot, while Scott Laughton and David Kampf rounded out the bottom-six center options. Other players have been able to swap into center (like Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok). However, we'll exclude them from this discussion as they primarily played on the wing down the stretch.