Jonathan Toews making his NHL comeback with the Winnipeg Jets

On June 24, 2006, the Chicago Blackhawks announced their first round pick, selecting Jonathan Toews third overall in the NHL Draft. Toews has been the first selection in the WHL draft and went on to play in the NCAA, where he put up a total of 85 points in 76 games.

On May 16, 2007, Toews decided he wouldn't play his last two years in the NCAA that he was eligible to, as he and the Blackhawks agreed to terms on an entry-level contract.

Toews suited up for his first NHL game with the Blackhawks on October 10, 2007. He took his first shot, and scored. Just after his first year in Chicago he would be named Captain on July 18, 2008. From there, Toews became a franchise player for the Blackhawks and led his team to the Stanley Cup three times.

Toews has a ton of accomplishments besides the Stanley Cup with Chicago, including the fifth-most games played as a Blackhawk (1067), ranking sixth in scoring (372) and points (883). He has the most overtime goals (16) as well as shootout goals (52).

And that's just in the regular season -- when we look at his playoff games with the Blackhawks, Toews has set some hard records in those categories too. He's 2nd overall for most playoff games as a Blackhawk (137), fifth for playoff points (119), and third for most game-winning goals (11).

There's no doubt Toews has had an amazing career and he had no desire to slow down at all, until the COVID19 pandemic started. The Blackhawks made an announcment on December 29, 2020 that Toews was out with an illness, and he would end up missing the entirety of the 2020-21 NHL season before confirming he did in fact contract the virus during the previous season and was dealing with effects from it still.

Toews would return and try his best as he played during the 2022-23 season, but was cut short for him while he missed weeks of the season due to his health. The Blackhawks ended up not re-signing Toews after the 2023 season and Toews decided that he would sit out for the next season and try to recover.

The NHL vet made it clear that this wasn't a retirement, but many fans still had some doubts on if Toews would or even could make a return as a few seasons passed and more than one NHL season he sat out-until early 2025 when he announced he was going to attempt to make a comeback for the 2025-2026 season as he had spent a lot of time focusing on his health and ensuring he could do it.

On June 20th, 2025 the Winnipeg Jets, Toews's hometown team, announced that they would be signing Toews to a one-year, $2 million deal. While teams are technically not allowed to sign players before free agency opens, players are allowed to verbally agree to contracts beforehand, which is the case here. With all terms agreed upon, all Toews has to do now on July 1 is sign his name on the dotted line and the 370year-old will officially become a Winnipeg Jet and make his NHL return for the 2025-26 season after his long recovery.

Toews took to social media, posting photos of him and his family when he was young, all decked out in Jets merchandise, he said "my earliest memories are of watching the Jets," "I've never been more proud to be from Winnipeg." He also thanked the organization, saying, "Thank you to everyone for the love and support, and to the Jets organization for making another childhood dream come true."