Toews had served as the previous captain of the team since 2008, leading the Blackhawks to a trio of Stanley Cup victories during his tenure in Chicago. Jones had the opportunity to play under Toews in each of the last two seasons in Chicago, but with the Hawks embarking on a top-to-bottom rebuild, they opted not to bring back veterans like Toews and
Patrick Kane in hopes of ushering in a new era built around some younger talent, such as Bedard, defenseman
Kevin Korchinski, Oliver Moore,
Frank Nazar and others.