The Winnipeg Jets are approaching a one-year contract with three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The team later confirmed Toews’ agreement to join the club when he becomes eligible to sign on July 1.
This news caps off a saga surrounding Toews’ professional career spanning the last four years. He hasn’t played in a pro game sine April 13, 2023 – though he only managed to play in 53 games of the 2022-23 season collectively. His absences were caused by a diagnosis with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), which can make workouts painful to get through even on a small scale. Toews spoke at lengths about his illness and rehabilitation process, which included a journey to India where he practiced Ayurveda — a traditional healing approach focused on centering spiritual wellness and purging unnecessary toxins.
It was on the heels of his five-week trip to India that Toews first spoke about making a return to the NHL level. Sparks around that fire grew stronger as the months went on, ultimately leading to Toews fully committing to a return in late May. With that commitment came plenty of NHL interest. The Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning were both listed as strong contenders to land Toews’ next contract alongside the Jets. But Toews will ultimately settle on continuing his career with his hometown club, and return to pastures of Winnipeg where he grew up.
The importance of Toews’ decision to move north can’t be understated. He is unequivocally one of the greatest Blackhawks in franchise history, having captained the team to three Cup wins starting at the clean-shaven age of 21. He was the yin to Patrick Kane’s yang for the entirety of the 2010s, serving as the responsible and impactful defensive backstop that facilitated Kane’s all-out offense. Toews reached unprecedented heights in that role. His 883 points in 1,067 games averages out to 29 goals, 39 assists, and 68 points per 82-game season. He tacked onto that Selke Trophy votes in every season between 2009 and 2020, including a Trophy win in 2013 and runner-up bids in 2011 and 2015.
Toews will go down in history as one of the league’s all-time great two-way forwards, in the vein of modern greats like Patrice Bergeron and Aleksander Barkov. But his return to the league stands out as an interesting move. He recorded 15 goals and 31 points in his shortened 2022-23 campaign, good for an 82-game pace of 23 goals and 48 points. Those are stout numbers for a then-34-year-old Toews — but it’s been two years since he’s competed at the same level, and it’s unclear if a 37-year-old Toews will bring the same punch.
Lucky for Winnipeg, they won’t need to rely on an all-star performance from Toews to get to the next level. The squad has appeared in three consecutive postseasons and seven of the last eight. Many of those runs have come on the back of top-line center Mark Scheifele and partner-in-crime Kyle Connor, who are both already under contract for next season. That means that a rehabilitated Toews will only need to man second-line — or, thanks to Adam Lowry, even third-line — minutes in his return to the NHL scene. A one-year deal and minimal role should give Toews the chance to really get his feet under him once again. Should he perform well, the polarizing return could stretch into a multi-year campaign with his childhood-favorite NHL squad.
