Jonathan Toews, Jets Agree to Contract, Won 3 Stanley Cups with Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews is making his NHL comeback this fall with his hometown team.

Toews, who hasn't played since the 2022-23 season with the Chicago Blackhawks, agreed to a contract with the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported the sides have agreed to a one-year deal that won't be registered until July 1, which is the first day of free agency.

Toews starred for the Blackhawks from 2007 to 2020, winning three Stanley Cups and winning back-to-back Olympic golds for Team Canada over the stretch. He served as the team's captain from 2008 to 2023.

His career was derailed by health issues starting in December 2020, when he announced he would be sidelined indefinitely by an illness he said at the time left him "feeling drained and lethargic."

Toews ultimately sat out the entirety of the 2020-21 season. He later said in a video posted in June 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS.)

The forward returned for two more seasons with the Blackhawks before announcing in August 2023 that he was "taking time away from the game" in order to focus on recovering from Long COVID and CIRS.

In a November 2024 post on Instagram, Toews said he had recently spent five weeks in India while undergoing "a bit of a healing journey."

This March he told The Athletic's Mark Lazerus that he was "not satisfied the way things ended in Chicago."

“It’s not about proving anything. It’s just that there’s something left in the tank and I want to explore that," Toews told Lazerus. "I want to be able to step away from the game having said that I’ve given it my all. And I still think there’s something left to give.”

Pat Brisson, Toews' agent, confirmed to NHL.com's Tracey Myers in May that Toews was "feeling great" and "moving forward" with an attempted comeback to the NHL.

Toews, who turned 37 in April, played his last game for the Blackhawks on April 3, 2023. He scored career goal No. 372 in a 5-4 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Toews may have scored just 27 goals over his last two seasons combined as the Hawks prepared for the rebuild that would eventually land them Connor Bedard, but he told Lazerus that he's been having "a lot of fun" preparing for his comeback compared to his last season in Chicago.

The Jets will now hope to see Toews, who was born in Winnipeg, make his successful comeback this fall and help them get over the hump in the playoffs.

Winnipeg fell short of the Western Conference Finals in 2025, losing in the second round to the Dallas Stars, despite another dominant season from perennial Vezina contender Connor Hellebuyck.

Toews is walking into a situation with a ready-made title contender. The Jets won the Presidents' Trophy this season with 116 points and will bring back their main trio of Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrisey.

If the Jets can find a way to retain Nikolaj Ehlers with Toews also coming in, they could start next season as favorites to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.