Why has Jonathan Toews seen his offense drop this season?

MINNEAPOLIS – Jonathan Toews has been bothered to some degree by his offensive struggles this season.

For a player who takes himself as seriously as Toews any type of drop-off can cause stress. But for Toews – the Blackhawks captain – his game is more than just about offense.

The offense is important, considering Toews is his team’s first-line center. His lesser numbers are troubling. But it’s not the end-all-be-all for Toews this season as he’s tried to find his role for the re-tooled Blackhawks as they head into Sunday's Stadium Series game here at TCF Bank Stadium against the Minnesota Wild.

“As long as we’re progressing, as long as personally I’m getting better as the season goes on, this is the time of year when I want to start playing my best hockey so I guess it hasn’t mattered too much for our team,” Toews said. “The team has been having success so that’s the biggest thing. Try to save them for when it really counts, I guess, at the end of the day.”

During the offseason Chicago traded two players who Toews meshed with at various points in his career. Winger Brandon Saad was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets and Patrick Sharp was sent to the Dallas Stars.

The belief was that as long as Toews still had long-time winger Marian Hossa, the Hawks could find an apt fit for his line. So far this year, it hasn’t quite worked that way.

While Patrick Kane has seen his offense soar to career-level productions with new winger Artemi Panarin and center Artem Anisimov, Toews has seen the opposite happen with him and his linemates.

Toews has 42 points through 60 games played. He’s averaging a career-low 0.70 points per-game. He's averaged 0.88 during his career.

His 15.4 percent shooting percentage shows that he’s still burying his chances – his career average is 15.0 percent – and his average goals per-game are around his career numbers.

The 37-year-old Hossa may be feeling his age. His 0.52 points per-game are his lowest total since his rookie year. According to War on Ice, Toews’ 5-on-5 CF Rel% plus-1.41. His CF% is at 51.26. For his career, Toews CF% is 56.3 and his CF% Rel is plus-4.3.

This indicates his team holds onto the puck more than the other team when he’s one the ice, but not by as much in the past. It also mean the Blackhawks don’t possess the puck as much compared to the rest of the group than they used to when he’s on the ice.

He has righted the ship to some degree with 18 points in his last 21 games, but it's been a struggle to find his offensive footing in compared to years past.

“I think early on there’s no doubt that there were some frustrating moments,” Toews said. “You can ask Marian Hossa, we both maybe felt the same way, like we were working really hard and not getting much out of it, but maybe that comes from playing a lot of hockey too.”

With Hossa out, Toews is currently on a line with Richard Panik on one wing and Andrew Shaw on the other. Shaw has never scored more than 20 goals in a season. Last season Panik had 11 goals in 76 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toews has tried to keep the rest of his game steady. His 19:34 of ice-time matches his total last season. He’s one of Chicago’s top penalty killers, averaging 1:29 of ice-time per-game shorthanded. On the power play, he averages 2:25 per-contest.

“I think Johnny, when you’re looking at his production ... we watch his play game in and game out. He hasn’t changed at all the impact he makes in a game and for our team; all situations, all big moments, top match ups, in defensive situations as well,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “That line got off to an ordinary start offensively. Since that stretch with the one line scoring for us, the production of his line or himself as an individual has been fine, very consistent.”

Also, the regular season isn’t the most important time of year for Toews. It’s just a portal to the playoffs, where his all-around game goes to another level. Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2010.

“He’s scored a lot of big goals for us as well,” Quenneville said. “He represents how we have to play and playing the right way, nobody does it better than him.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper