Finest NHL commerce deadline locations for Blackhawks star

The March NHL trade deadline is getting closerwhich means the focus on Chicago Blackhawks star center Jonathan Toews is only going to get more intense. Toews has yet to waive his no-trade clause, but if he does, these are some of the best NHL trade deadline destinations for the legendary Blackhawks forward, whose current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 NHL season.

4. Washington Capitals

The center position isn’t much of an offensive threat for the Capitals from a goal-scoring standpoint. Dylan Strome heads Washington centers with just 11 goals, though his primary goal really is to feed Alex Ovechkin. Which is also why he’s already got 25 assists on the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov remains a smooth playmaker on the second line with 35 assists to date.

However, Nicklas Backstrom is still trying to even get close to his old form. Meanwhile, Lars Eller, together with Strome, has been scratched in multiple games recently. It’s not looking good at the moment for Washington’s center room. The Capitals could be in the market for center help ahead of the NHL trade deadline, and Jonathan Toews can be one of the names to watch out for in DC

3. Minnesota Wild

Minnesota is only averaging 3.09 goals per game, which is good for only 20th in the league this season. The Wild do look like a team that could use a boost on offense, particularly from the center slot. Joel Erikkson leads Minnesota’s centers with 17 goals as part of the second line. Meanwhile, Sam Steel only has eight goals while playing mostly alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Suzzxarello on the top line. S

teel doesn’t really have to be all that aggressive in hunting for his own shots, given the quality of his linemates, but he can still do better, at least in terms of accuracy. Steel and Erikkson are connecting on 13.1 and 12.1 percent of their shot attempts on goal, respectively. As a team, the Wild are just 17th overall with a 9.9 shooting percentage. They’re even worse in 5-on-5 scenarios with just a 7.5 shooting percentage — good for only 24th in the NHL.

Say what you want about the regression of Jonathan Toews as a player overall, but he is still showing good accuracy. In fact, he leads the Blackhawks together with Taylor Raddysh this season with a 16.9 shooting percentage. It’s on pace to be the second best in a season in his NHL career. It’s also good enough to crack the top 20 in the league this season among centers with at least 35 games played.

2.Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina is arguably the best possession team in the NHL. It’s hard to argue against the Hurricanes’ 5-on-5 59.9 CF% and 58.9 SCF%, which are both the best in the entire league, so far this season. But like the Wild, the Hurricanes are having issues with converting chances into goals. It’s a much bigger problem for Carolina than the Wild since Minnesota isn’t the puck-dominant team that the Canes are. Despite their dominance in controlling the puck, the Hurricanes are wasting so many opportunities to score with poor accuracy. The Hurricanes are shooting just 9.2 percent, a bottom-10 number in the NHL. They are also just 13th overall with 3.21 goals per contest.

Jonathan Toews can help address that issue. He has a case to be a better option at the center position than either Jesperi Kotkaniemi or Paul Stastny, who have scored just seven and three goals so far this season, respectively. Kotkaniemi is shooting just 10.1 percent while Stastny is way worse with just a 6.0 percent clip. Given that Carolina is already an excellent team when it comes to finding premium scoring chances (5-on-5 61.9 HDF%), Kotkaniemi and Stastny should have scored more goals than they have at the moment. Toews can be the one to lead the way for the centers behind Sebastian Aho.

1. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers still have Connor McDavid, but they still can’t seem to get over the hump. Well, they reached the Western Conference Finals last season, but clearly, this is a team that, despite having the best player on the planet, is still a piece or a couple of them away from getting over the hump. Perhaps a player like Jonathan Toews could be that guy to galvanize the squad.

With McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers have arguably the best 1-2 centers in the NHL and have a top-five offense that produces 3.67 goals per game, as of this writing (third overall in the NHL), but Toews can still carve out a crucial role behind them.

Ryan McLeod, as the Oilers’ third-line center, only has seven goals and six assists on the season, and while he could have produced more by this point of the season if it weren’t for missed games due to injury, having someone like Toews instead of McLeod behind McDavid and Draisaitl can make Edmonton’s offense an even bigger nightmare to deal with for opposing blue-lines. That’s not to mention Toews’ ability to contribute to the defense.

*stats are accurate as of Jan 25