Flyers vs. Blackhawks Thursday NHL odds: Jonathan Toews officially playing final game with Chicago, longshot to score goal

Thursday night officially marks the end of an era for the Chicago Blackhawks. They won three Stanley Cups last decade in large part due to forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The rebuilding Hawks traded Kane to the Rangers last month and have officially announced that Thursday's season finale at home vs. Philadelphia will be the captain Toews' final game with the franchise. Chicago is -105 at Caesars Sportsbook.

"We can't thank him enough for everything he's done. The city of Chicago and the Blackhawks will be forever indebted for the ride he took us on. Wherever he goes and wherever he plays next, he'll be a Blackhawk forever," GM Kyle Davidson said Thursday morning.

Toews' eight-year, $84 million contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and he's expected to retire at age 34 after dealing with some health issues in recent years – including long COVID-19. Toews didn't play at all in the 2020-21 season and has been limited to 52 games this year. He has 14 goals and 16 assists with a career-worst minus-30 rating, but Chicago is a bad team that essentially has been trying to tank all year. Toews is +215 to score a goal tonight.

The Hawks were ready to trade Toews to a Cup contender if he wanted like they did with Kane, but the team opted to keep Toews because he was dealing with symptoms of both long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. Kane was the better player, but Toews was the more popular one in Chicago. Both will have their jerseys retired someday. Davidson didn't offer Kane or Toews a contract extension, saying he wanted to "clear the deck" for the next generation of Blackhawks.

Tonight will be the 1,067th regular-season game of Toews' career. He's totaled 371 goals and 511 assists along with a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, a Selke Trophy (given to the season's best defensive forward) and those three Cups. He'll be in the Hall of Fame someday.

"I don't really have an answer right now," Toews said earlier this week about retirement. "I'm just trying to enjoy the last few days of the season with this group and not thinking that far ahead."

It could hugely benefit Chicago to lose tonight and potentially finish with the fewest points in the NHL, the best chance (25%) to win next month's draft lottery and the opportunity to select generational prospect Connor Bedard at No. 1 overall in this summer's draft. The Blackhawks were last in the league until a shocking 5-2 upset in Pittsburgh on Tuesday that for all intents and purposes snapped the Penguins' 16-season streak of making the playoffs.

Currently, Chicago sits third-from-last in the league with 58 points, "behind" Columbus (57) and Anaheim (58 – but Chicago holds the tiebreaker). The Blue Jackets have two games left, both at home against opponents with nothing to play for: Thursday vs. Pittsburgh and Friday vs. Buffalo. The Ducks close Thursday vs. Los Angeles.

In order to still finish last, the Hawks will need to lose Thursday, have the Ducks earn at least one point and have the Blue Jackets win one of their two remaining games.

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