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Jonathan Toews

Jets Expected To Activate Jonathan Toews From IR

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Jonathan Toews’ return to NHL ice will proceed as scheduled tonight. Despite being listed on injured reserve due to an undisclosed issue on the Jets’ opening night roster, Toews was a full participant in morning skate and is expected to be added to the active roster before tonight’s home opener, according to the team’s Mitchell Clinton. Winnipeg has a full 23-man roster and will need to make a corresponding transaction – presumably demoting one of their two waiver-exempt scratches in Parker Ford or Brad Lambert to AHL Manitoba.

The 37-year-old has carried a day-to-day designation for the past week after getting banged up in his final preseason appearance against the Wild on Sep. 30. Toews did not record a point in any of his three exhibition appearances but skated heavy minutes in the first two, around 18 minutes per game. The elite faceoff man showed no rust in the dot, going 28-for-46 on draws for a 60.9% win rate.

Toews will be anchoring Winnipeg’s second line between rookie Nikita Chibrikov and fellow offseason free agent signing Gustav Nyquist in his debut for his hometown team. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and future Hall of Famer last played a regular-season game 910 days ago on April 13, 2023, the final game of the Blackhawks’ 2022-23 season.

The longtime Chicago franchise cornerstone became a free agent the following summer and spent the last two seasons on the sidelines while dealing with the combined effects of chronic inflammatory response syndrome and long COVID. Back in May, he made clear his intent to return to play in 2025-26 and fielded calls from the Avalanche and Lightning as well before opting to sign in Winnipeg.

In his most recent NHL showing, Toews churned out a 15-16–31 scoring line in 53 appearances for the Hawks. With Winnipeg needing Toews to shoulder top-six minutes out of necessity to kick off the campaign, they’ll need at least that level of production – if not more – to help their offense stay afloat behind their dominant first line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi. In addition to losing top-six fixture Nikolaj Ehlers to free agency, the club is also without Cole Perfetti to begin the campaign after a preseason ankle injury and is missing captain Adam Lowry until later this month in the best-case scenario after he underwent hip surgery at the beginning of the offseason.

Central Notes: Hryckowian, Bäck, Toews

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The Dallas Stars announced a trio of roster moves this evening, recalling forward Justin Hryckowian from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and sending down forward Harrison Scott and defenseman Trey Taylor. The moves aren’t a huge surprise, as Hryckowian had a very strong training camp and preseason. After such a successful rookie year in the AHL, in which Hryckowian won the AHL Rookie of the Year award with 60 points in 67 regular-season games and 18 points in 14 playoff games, it was expected that he’d find his way onto Dallas’ NHL roster in short order. He was originally reassigned to Texas two days ago, but that move was part of the Stars’ larger maneuvering to prepare a season-opening roster, and not an indication of where Hryckowian would begin his season.

In addition to Hryckowian’s recall, the Stars sent down Scott and Taylor. Both Scott and Taylor are relatively recent undrafted free agent signings the Stars made out of the NCAA, and both are entering their debut professional campaigns after late-season cameos in 2024-25. Scott, 25, is a 6’0 winger who scored 35 points in 38 games last season for the University of Maine, while Taylor, 23, is a 6’2 left-shot blueliner who had an impressive three-year run with Clarkson University. Taylor was twice named the ECAC’s top defensive defenseman and was a second-team All-American in 2025.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Part of the reason Hryckowian’s recall was necessary – other than Hryckowian’s own impressive training camp performance – is an injury suffered by incumbent Stars bottom-six forward Oskar Bäck. Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports relayed word from Stars coach Glen Gulutzan today, who said that Bäck would miss at least the club’s first two games and likely “another week or so.” Back scored 16 points in 73 games last season playing fourth-line minutes with second-unit penalty kill deployment. The Stars signed Adam Erne today which could help fill in for Bäck alongside the aforementioned recall of Hryckowian.
  • Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel told the media, including the Winnipeg News’ Mike McIntyre, that the team is hopeful center Jonathan Toews will be ready to play in the club’s first game of the season, which is on Thursday. The Jets placed Toews, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury, on IR with a retroactive placement date, meaning he is free to be activated at any point. It’s an important year for Toews and the Jets, as he’s currently pencilled in as the club’s second-line center after two seasons spent away from the game recovering from various health issues.

Snapshots: Toews, Drouin, O’Regan

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Jonathan Toews was at Winnipeg Jets practice today, reports Jets team reporter Mitchell Clinton. Toews had been out on a day-to-day timeline since leaving Tuesday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Wild with an injury. While it is not immediately clear if Toews will be fully healthy for the Jets’ preseason opener, this is nonetheless a positive development for both the Jets and Toews himself.

Toews’ health is one of the most significant storylines to watch in Winnipeg this season, as the three-time Stanley Cup champion is attempting to return to full-time NHL action after missing both 2023-24 and 2024-25 due to the lingering effects of long COVID and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. Toews was a valuable player when he was last in the NHL, scoring 37 points in 2021-22 and 31 points (in 53 games) in 2022-23. The Jets have been searching for a steady second-line center to pencil in behind Mark Scheifele since the retirement of Bryan Little, and Toews will be the latest player to get a chance to prove he can handle the responsibility.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • Jonathan Drouin is back at New York Islanders practice after missing three practices due to illness, reports Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Drouin returns to full health at an important time as the Islanders prepare to finalize their roster and enter the 2025-26 regular season. Drouin signed a two-year, $4MM AAV contract this past summer to bring him to Long Island, a solid reward for the player after he revitalized his career as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Drouin, who scored 37 points in 43 games last season, is currently pencilled into the Islanders’ top line alongside Bo Horvat and fellow offseason addition (and fellow former Montreal Canadien) Emil Heineman.
  • Former San Jose Sharks forward Danny O’Regan has found a place to play for 2025-26. The 31-year-old former AHL Rookie of the Year and Boston University star has signed a one-year contract with the DEL’s Schwenningen Wild Wings. The Wild Wings’ translated press release indicates that the team made the signing in part as a response to the fact that offseason import signing Tim Gettinger is facing an extended absence due to injury. While O’Regan won’t provide the physicality Gettinger brings, he does bring more offensive touch – he scored a healthy 27 points in 65 KHL games last season and has a superior scoring record in the AHL when compared to Gettinger.

Evening Notes: Atlanta, Kane/Toews, Hughes Brothers

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke openly about the potential for an expansion team in Atlanta during a media availability on Tuesday. In it, Daly shared that the league hasn’t yet received a full proposal yet, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Wyshynski further points out that a group backed by Krause Sports and Entertainment has received approval on a $3B arena development in Forsyth County, Georgia. They are one of multiple groups vying for ownership over a potential Atlanta squad.

Notably, Daly also voiced support for the idea of expansion overall. He told Wyshynski that the NHL is “uniquely positioned” for more teams because of how deep the player pool has become. Daly pointed towards the growth of smaller hockey markets as evidence of that growth, and said that adding new teams would be no issue for the NHL. That’s a strong bode of confidence towards the idea of expansion, though it doesn’t seem the league isn’t growing any more roots just yet.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • Future Hall-of-Fame winger Patrick Kane spoke with Wynshynski about Jonathan Toews’ return to the NHL. Kane called his former batterymate’s comeback a great story, and remarked that it’s been enjoyable to follow Toews’ return as the two still talk frequently. The conversation led to Kane, once again, receiving the question of whether he’d have interest in moving to his own hometown club, the Buffalo Sabres, in the same way that Toews chose to join the Winnipeg Jets. Kane batted away the question, instead affirming how much he’s enjoyed playing for the clubs he has already played for – including Detroit. He called the Red Wings a team on the rise, and the source of his career’s revival. Kane scored 21 goals and 59 points in 72 games with the Red Wings last season. It brought his total scoring with the club up to 106 points in 122 games – and his career-long scoring up to 1,343 points in 1,302 games.
  • Top New Jersey Devils centerman Jack Hughes also caught attention for interview comments on Wednesday. While participating at the NHL Media Tour, Hughes said that he would love to have a chance to play with his brother Quinn, whether that been in New Jersey or not, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. The storyline of if, and when, the Hughes brothers would reconnect has been a rich one all summer. They’re a close-knit trio of brothers, including youngest brother Luke, with two-thirds currently playing in the Devils organization. But acquiring Quinn would be a near-impossible task for Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald. Quinn is among the league’s best defensemen. He won the 2024 Norris Trophy, and finished last season as a Norris finalist. New Jersey – or, any team – would need to sell the farm to land Quinn. Luckily, he is roughly one month away from his 26th birthday, giving the Hughes brothers plenty of time to regroup with their oldest sibling before he’s past his prime yeras.

West Notes: Hintz, Toews, Kravtsov

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Stars center Roope Hintz has fully recovered from the broken foot he sustained late in the playoffs, relays NHL.com’s Tracey Myers.  The injury ultimately didn’t need surgery and he will be ready to take part in training camp next month.  Hintz came back for the final two games of the series before Dallas was eliminated by Edmonton but he was clearly not at his best given the injury.  He finished fourth on the Stars in scoring last season after putting up 28 goals and 39 assists in 76 games while adding a dozen points in 17 postseason appearances.  It was the first time in four years that he didn’t reach the 30-goal mark, something he might have been able to reach had he been fully healthy during the regular season.

More from out West:

  • Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press outlines the journey that center Jonathan Toews went through to get back to being ready to give playing in the NHL another opportunity through Ayurvedic and Panchakarma treatments. The 37-year-old had to step away from playing in 2023 due to the lingering effects of long COVID and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.  However, he’s ready to give playing another go now after signing a one-year deal with the Jets at the start of free agency.  The agreement pays him a base salary of $2MM while he has an additional $5MM in potential performance bonuses ranging from games played to Winnipeg’s playoff success.
  • There was a fair bit of interest in Canucks winger Vitali Kravtsov before Vancouver brought him back to North America, reports Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link). With that in mind, the team is thought to have an internal belief that the 25-year-old will be claimed off waivers if Vancouver tries to send him to the minors.  Kravtsov is coming off a strong KHL season and signed a one-year, two-way deal earlier this month.  He’ll need to get into 16 NHL games this coming season to remain RFA-eligible and based on this, he might have a shot at getting there even if he’s cut from the Canucks in training camp.

Scheifele Excited To Add Toews To Mix

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Count Winnipeg Jets alternate captain and first-line center Mark Scheifele among those excited about the addition of longtime NHL captain Jonathan Toews. Calling Toews’ signing with the Jets “the perfect storm,” Scheifele expressed excitement about adding the three-time Stanley Cup champion and Winnipeg native, per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.

“Coming back to Winnipeg, coming back from not playing for a couple of years, I thought it all made so much sense. I was obviously hoping that we were the front-runner and we’re very excited to have him,” said Scheifele.

Toews signed a one-year deal with Jets on June 20, marking his return to the NHL after being sidelined since April 2023 after being diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). After a trip to India to seek additional healing practices, Toews announced in May that he intended to make a comeback, and ultimately chose to play for his hometown team.

While it’s difficult to predict how Toews will perform after such a long layoff, he’s expected to slot into a top-nine role and could provide the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners with a dependable two-way presence, which was a hallmark of his game during his time with the Blackhawks. Toews, along with fellow recent signees Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson, and Cole Koepke, will look to pick up the offensive slack left behind by Nikolaj Ehlers, who signed with the Carolina Hurricanes this offseason.

Scheifele acknowledged that losing Ehlers is a challenge, but believes the team can take the next step in their success after being eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the second round of the playoffs.

“I think the biggest thing for us is to take those expectations and use it as motivation. You want to be just as good as last year, but at the same time, it’s about winning a Stanley Cup and that’s the end goal. We didn’t get that done last year and that at the end of the day, is our biggest goal,” he said.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Allen, Lemaire

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The Devils were among a myriad of teams interested in signing Jonathan Toews, and GM Tom Fitzgerald is still in the market for top-six forwards, per The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun. Lebrun notes that Fitzgerald may be monitoring situations like the one Jason Robertson is currently facing with the Dallas Stars, and added, “Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market.” While Toews recently agreed to a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets, Robertson has been rumored to be available via trade.

While the Devils are led by young stars like Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier, they were the only players on the team to record more than 55 points last season. The Devils finished 20th in the league last season with 240 goals in the regular season and managed just 11 goals over five playoff games before being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes. If they hope to contend with the Eastern Conference’s top teams, they’ll need to boost their offensive production.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • Lebrun also notes that Devils’ pending unrestricted free agent goalie Jake Allen is in a strong position, given the limited depth available at the position in this year’s free agency market. As LeBrun notes, Allen led all soon-to-be free agent goalies with a .906 save percentage last season. While Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has expressed interest in re-signing last year’s backup, Allen is expected to draw substantial interest on the open market. Notably, the Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks have already been linked to Allen.
  • Jacques Lemaire, who has been serving as the New York Islanders’ special assignments coach since 2018, is no longer with the organization, per NHL.com reporter Stefen Rosner. His departure from the Isles makes sense considering he was brought to the team by former GM Lou Lamoriello. Lemaire, 79, enjoyed a Hall of Fame playing career, recording 835 points in 853 NHL games. In 2017, he was named to the league’s “100 Greatest Players” list. He later transitioned to coaching, serving as an NHL head coach for 17 seasons, most notably leading the Devils to a Stanley Cup title in the 1994-95 season.

Jonathan Toews In Agreement On One-Year Deal With Winnipeg Jets

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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 1st.

The details of Toews’ contract with Winnipeg have been revealed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. Toews will carry a base salary of $2MM, and receive a $550K bonus for every 20 regular season games that he plays. He will also receive a $500K bonus if the Jets make the playoffs and he appears in 50-or-more games. He’ll additionally receive a $250K bonus for each playoff round Winnipeg wins – assuming he plays in at least 50 percent of games – and a $1MM bonus if Winnipeg wins the Stanley Cup.

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.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports, Imagn-Images.

Avalanche, Jets, Lightning Interested In Jonathan Toews

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In today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave a brief update on Jonathan Toews’s market as he attempts to make a comeback to the NHL. Friedman listed the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Winnipeg Jets as likely suitors for the three-time Stanley Cup champion.

Perceived interest in Toews will likely revolve around his salary demands. Toews’ longtime counterpart with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings after undergoing a risky hip resurfacing surgery and missing nearly two months of the regular season. Fortunately for Kane, he was able to parlay his 2023-24 campaign into a $4MM base salary with the Red Wings, with another $2.5MM available in performance bonuses.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison from Kane to Toews, as the latter has missed the last two seasons due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID. After missing that much time, any team interested in Toews may only feel comfortable with a bonus-laden league minimum contract.

All three teams connected to Toews have a common denominator: they are all in their competitive window. Surprisingly, the first team listed, the Avalanche, has the lowest need for a bottom-six center at this time. Colorado finished the year with Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury centering their bottom two lines, and Toews doesn’t project as a notable improvement on either unless they’re willing to move Coyle to the wing.

The Winnipeg Jets, Toews’s hometown team, makes more sense at face value. Assuming that Winnipeg is uninterested in removing captain Adam Lowry from the third line, Toews makes more sense than Morgan Barron for the team’s fourth-line center, especially if they move Barron to the wing to replace Brandon Tanev. Barron has been an underrated defensive forward throughout his time in Manitoba, starting more than 65.0% of his shifts in the defensive zone during his Jets tenure and maintaining a positive rating. Barron would be equally capable on the wing, and Toews could comparatively provide more offense with a higher career faceoff percentage.

Arguably, Tampa Bay makes the most sense of the teams listed. The Lightning are expected to enter the offseason with less than $3.5MM in salary cap space and will have to find a replacement for Luke Glendening on the team’s fourth line. The team could conceivably move Zemgus Girgensons to that role, who’s signed through the 2026-27 season, since he spent much of his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres as a center. Still, the Lightning have highly prioritized faceoff success in that role recently, and Toews’ career 57.3% success rate far outweighs Girgensons’ 45.3%.

Aside from missing the last two years, it was apparent in 2022-23 that Toews had entered the twilight years of his career. Although he received Selke Trophy votes toward the end of his time with the Blackhawks, he was no longer considered one of the league’s top defensive forwards, and his offense cratered. However, it seems that competitive teams believe Toews has more left in the tank, and he’s seemingly prioritizing another Stanley Cup ring before he finally hangs up his skates.

Jonathan Toews Will Pursue NHL Contract In Free Agency

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Four-time All-Star center Jonathan Toews informed his agent yesterday he’s “100 percent committed to coming back to the NHL next season,” reports The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Toews, who hasn’t played since 2023 due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID, opened up about his absence last December and said he remained hopeful about making an NHL return. He’s been working out in Arizona for the past few months as he determined whether he could handle a return.

Toews turned 37 last month. He’s only played two of the last five years, as his health issues also caused him to sit out the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign. Upon returning, he was understandably nowhere close to the elite two-way center he’d been for most of his career. He scored 68 points in 124 games with a -45 rating across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before stepping away from the game when his contract expired two summers ago.

The earlier stages of his career need no introduction. The third overall pick of the 2006 draft was named Chicago’s captain in just his second year in the league and led them to three Stanley Cups in six years, scoring 383 points in 419 games with a +148 rating across the Hawks’ six-year championship window from 2009-10 to 2014-15. He was one of the league’s top faceoff men, winning 57.3% of his draws over his 15-year career, and won the Conn Smythe trophy in Chicago’s first Cup win in 2010 after leading the playoffs with 22 assists in 22 games.

While Toews’ most recent seasons on a rebuilding Chicago roster were underwhelming, there are still reasons for optimism in a potential return to play. The extended time off and altered rehabilitation schedule likely have him in better physical shape than he was in his last comeback in 2021. Despite the gnarly plus/minus rating, his raw possession impacts were still positive in those 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns as well. He posted Corsi shares of 48.5% and 44.4% at even strength on clubs that posted Corsi shares of 46.0% and 43.9% on the whole, respectively. He remained elite on draws, too, including a career-best 63.1% win rate in his most recent season.

He’ll almost certainly receive one-way offers as a result. Since he’s not currently under contract, he doesn’t need to wait until July 1 to sign a contract for 2025-26 and can start talking with teams now. Given his age, he’s eligible for performance bonuses in his deal. That’s certainly an important consideration for a cap-strapped team, which could acquire him at a low cap hit initially and not take a big financial risk if he can’t be a full-time contributor.

Likely to be the most aggressive among his suitors are his hometown Jets, especially after they received news that captain Adam Lowry will miss the beginning of next season after undergoing hip surgery. Winnipeg was linked to Toews back in January when he alluded to making a comeback for 2025-26. While there’s no guarantee Toews will be able to handle anything above fourth-line deployment next year, he would at least give Winnipeg some added depth at a position of weakness down the middle, especially with Lowry unavailable for a stretch.

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