ST. LOUIS – Jonathan Toews will feel Robin Lehner’s absence in more ways than one.

“He brought a lot,” Toews said. “A lot of personality, a lot of character. You felt his presence every time he walked into the room.

“You got a guy like that around every day, who brings it every day, you’re going to feel that loss for sure.”

Lehner was reliable, putting up a 16-10 record and .918 save percentage in his first season with the Blackhawks. And if not for a confluence of the salary cap and market forces working against the Hawks, the 28-year-old goaltender might have had a long future in Chicago.

But the Hawks, who could face cap issues going into next season, likely wouldn’t have been able to re-sign players such as Lehner and defenseman Erik Gustafsson once they became unrestricted free agents this summer. So for general manager Stan Bowman, getting whatever assets he could at Monday’s trade deadline “made the most sense for us.”

Those assets came in the form of goalie Malcolm Subban, prospect Slava Demin and a 2020 second-round pick from the Golden Knights in exchange for Lehner, plus the higher of the Flames’ two third-round picks this year for Gustafsson.

“You never like to see friends leave,” Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “As teammates, that’s tough, and both guys are very well-liked and played well for us. But at the same time, we’re trying to collect assets and make the team better long-term.”

Patrick Kane, like Toews in his 13th season with the Hawks, said the trades brought “mixed feelings.”

“Those two guys that we traded away were really good players for our team,” Kane said. “It’s never fun to see teammates go, so there’s definitely some mixed feelings there.”

Kane had hoped the Hawks could reach an extension with Lehner.

“The way he played and how good he was all year, you thought that might be the route they were going to go,” Kane said. “I guess you never really know in this business.”

Kane recognizes the team will focus on developing younger players, but he couldn’t say whether he’s prepared for a long process — if that’s what it takes — to achieve Hawks President/CEO John McDonough’s vision of returning to Stanley Cup contention.

“I don’t know,” Kane said. “That’s something we’ll have to discuss with him after the season and kind of see where everyone’s at. I’m sure there’ll be some conversations once the season’s over.”

Toews declined to comment on the team’s direction, saying, “It’s not up to me to talk about.” But the locker room has two fewer leaders in his estimation.

“Losing Lenny, losing Gus, those two guys have meant a lot to this team in the short time they’ve been here,” Toews said. “Lenny came in right away, and sometimes you’re not too sure how those strong personalities are going to fit into a locker room, especially right away. A lot of guys kind of dip their toes in the water when they come to a new team.

“But Lenny just jumped right in. Right away you could tell he was genuine and he cared about winning and he brought a lot of leadership to the room. I told him many times, too, that he helped me as a captain. He helped some of our veteran guys that have been here a long time kind of wake up to get back to what makes us good players and good leaders and try to get this team going in the right direction.”

As for Gustafsson, Toews said: “He was one of those guys that had a ton of skill and just kept getting better every single day. (He) has a ton of upside and he’s going to keep getting better as he goes along. Calgary’s getting a really good player and a great teammate.”

Colliton said it’s his responsibility to develop the young players “as quickly as possible,” but he hasn’t given up on pursuing a wild-card spot.

“There’s a lot of games left and a lot of points available,” Colliton said. “But I’ve said before, we can’t look at that big picture. It’s too big. We have to focus on here and now and find a way to win” Tuesday night against the Blues.

However it turns out, Toews promised “no letdown, no taking any steps back.”

“Stay on your routine,” he said, “stay on your commitment, keeping that upbeat feel in the locker room and having fun, working hard and putting your best foot forward.”