Report: Jonathan Toews 100% committed to returning to NHL in 2025-26
Jonathan Toews appears set to return to the NHL next season.
According to Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic and TSN, the former Chicago Blackhawks center has told his agent Pat Brisson that he is 100% committed to coming back to the NHL for the 2025-26.
Jonathan Toews reached out to his agent Pat Brisson yesterday to inform him he's 100 percent committed to coming back to the NHL next season. Just spoke with Brisson, who says he will start taking calls from NHL teams on Toews now leading up to July 1.
Toews, 37, last played in…
LeBrun also mentioned that Toews and Brisson will start taking calls from NHL teams leading up to July 1st, when he’ll be able to sign for next season. The 37-year-old has been working out for the past several months to prepare for a comeback to the NHL.
Toews hasn’t played in the NHL for two years, announcing in the 2023 offseason that he was stepping away from hockey so that he could give himself “the time and space to fully heal and enjoy life to the fullest once again.” That came at the conclusion of his eight-year contract with a $10.5 million cap hit, so he’s been a free agent for the past two seasons.
Toews had actually been a top trade target in the 2022-23 season as well due to his expiring contract, but due to health concerns and the inability to be as committed to the game as he usually expects from himself, he announced that he made a joint decision with the Blackhawks to not be traded.
Toews had not been heard from again until November 2024, when he posted on Instagram about how he underwent a Ayurvedic Panchakarma detox while in India, a process that included treatments such as meditative yoga, daily laxatives and painful massages.
This hasn’t been the only health problems Toews has encountered in recent years. He had missed the entirety of the 2020-21 season due to issues with COVID-19 and a chronic immune response system.
At this point in time, it’s unclear which teams will be the frontrunners to sign Toews, although TSN insider Darren Dreger has made the connection to his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets.
When Toews last played in 2022-23, he had 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 53 games, the lowest point total in his career thus far.
Toews has had a decorated career in the NHL, which has seen him captain the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups, as well as capture gold medals at two Olympics for Canada. He has 372 goals and 511 assists for 883 points in 1,067 regular season games, and 45 goals and 74 assists for 119 points in 137 games, and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2010 and the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2013.