Random because the news just came out, but how much would you guys be interested in signing J. Toews as a 3rd/4th line center/winger if it was league min or a million bucks? I think I would have a hard time saying no to that given his career and the type of leader he was. Curious what you all think.
I'd be really interested in doing a 1 year deal at league minimum base salary with some games played bonuses (AKA the Ryan Suter contract).
From our perspective, we love bringing low risk competition to camp and I would like to see Dvorsky have to take the 3C spot from
someone rather than enter camp having to really blow it to lose the 3C job. But I also don't want that someone to create a long-term roadblock or be so good that Dvorksy has basically no shot to win the job. Toews fits that mold pretty well. We have a tangible need for faceoff and PK ability, which are two skills that should have declined the least for Toews. If he is better than Dvorsky, then we upgrade the 3C spot for next year as we (presumably) are trying to develop Snuggy in the top 9. If Dvorsky wins the job but Toews can still play at the NHL level, then he would be a good fit at 4C to force Snuggy to wing. And obviously if he turns out to be fully washed then we don't really lose anything. He makes a ton of sense for what we need.
From his perspective, we probably make a good deal of sense. I think he'll get a good number of offers, but I think a lot of them will be from teams with better/more competition for their 3C role. How many contenders can offer him as much opportunity to win a 3C job AND the clear fallback to 4C if he falls short? And of those contenders, how many would have the willingness to offer as much in potential bonus money? Beyond basic mony/opportunity concerns, we would also offer some degree of familiarity. He has spent his entire career in the Central division, so our travel/schedule would be among the most similar to what he had in Chicago. And not for nothing, but we have a pretty good reputation around the league for offering guys their last chance in the NHL. We've beaten the philosophy of culture vs tanking topic to death around here, but the path we have taken has shown players that we view ourselves as a team on the upswing and looking to play 82+ meaningful games next year.
He might get better offers, but I think we could make a pretty compelling pitch. I think his situation aligns with our needs/goals pretty damn well. I think we could do a lot worse as a low-risk stopgap gamble, even if you believe that he has a huge uphill battle to be a replacement-level bottom 6 player. Plus, I think it would annoy the hell out of Hawks fans, which is almost worth it by itself.
