Jonathan Toews Won't Be Traded by Blackhawks at NHL Deadline amid Illness

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson confirmed Sunday that the team wouldn't be trading Jonathan Toews ahead of the Friday, March 3, trade deadline as he deals with symptoms of both long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome.

It was a joint decision between the player and organization, with Toews releasing the following statement Sunday:

Toews, 34, hasn't played since Jan. 28. Before his illness sidelined him he had posted 14 goals and 14 assists in 46 games.

He also missed the 2020-21 season with chronic immune response syndrome.

"I think there are a lot of things that I piled up and my body fell apart," Towes said in 2021. "... I couldn't quite recover, and my immune system was reacting to everything I did—any kind of stress. Anything I would do throughout the day, it was just always kind of a stress response. So it took some time, and that was the frustrating part, not knowing when or how we were going to get over the hump."

The likely future Hall of Famer has been a mainstay for the Blackhawks and is one of the most legendary figures in the history of the franchise and Chicago sports in general, winning three Stanley Cup titles with the organization.

Toews has accumulated 371 goals and 509 assists in his career. He'll face a fascinating decision in the offseason, however, when he's eligible to become a free agent. If chasing another title is a priority, he'll likely move on, as the cellar-dwelling Blackhawks have an NHL-worst 39 points this season and don't seem likely to return to contention anytime soon.

So it's possible that Toews has played his last game in Chicago for the Blackhawks. If that's the case, it was a memorable ride for the team's longtime captain.