The Winnipeg Jets are approaching a one-year contract with three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The crew later confirmed Toews’ settlement to affix the membership when he turns into eligible to signal on July 1.
This information caps off a saga surrounding Toews’ skilled profession spanning the final 4 years. He hasn’t performed in a professional recreation sine April 13, 2023 – although he solely managed to play in 53 video games of the 2022-23 season collectively. His absences have been brought on by a analysis with Continual Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), which might make exercises painful to get by way of even on a small scale. Toews spoke at lengths about his sickness and rehabilitation course of, which included a journey to India the place he practiced Ayurveda — a standard therapeutic strategy targeted on centering non secular wellness and purging pointless toxins.
It was on the heels of his five-week journey to India that Toews first spoke about making a return to the NHL stage. Sparks round that fireside grew stronger because the months went on, finally resulting in Toews absolutely committing to a return in late May. With that dedication got here loads of NHL curiosity. The Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning have been each listed as strong contenders to land Toews’ subsequent contract alongside the Jets. However Toews will finally decide on persevering with his profession along with his hometown membership, and return to pastures of Winnipeg the place he grew up.
The significance of Toews’ choice to maneuver north can’t be understated. He’s unequivocally one of many biggest Blackhawks in franchise historical past, having captained the crew to a few Cup wins beginning on the clean-shaven age of 21. He was the yin to Patrick Kane’s yang for the whole lot of the 2010s, serving because the accountable and impactful defensive backstop that facilitated Kane’s all-out offense. Toews reached unprecedented heights in that position. His 883 factors in 1,067 video games averages out to 29 objectives, 39 assists, and 68 factors per 82-game season. He tacked onto that Selke Trophy votes in each season between 2009 and 2020, together with a Trophy win in 2013 and runner-up bids in 2011 and 2015.
Toews will go down in historical past as one of many league’s all-time nice two-way forwards, within the vein of contemporary greats like Patrice Bergeron and Aleksander Barkov. However his return to the league stands out as an attention-grabbing transfer. He recorded 15 objectives and 31 factors in his shortened 2022-23 marketing campaign, good for an 82-game tempo of 23 objectives and 48 factors. These are stout numbers for a then-34-year-old Toews — but it surely’s been two years since he’s competed on the similar stage, and it’s unclear if a 37-year-old Toews will carry the identical punch.
Fortunate for Winnipeg, they received’t must depend on an all-star efficiency from Toews to get to the subsequent stage. The squad has appeared in three consecutive postseasons and 7 of the final eight. Lots of these runs have come on the again of top-line heart Mark Scheifele and partner-in-crime Kyle Connor, who’re each already beneath contract for subsequent season. That implies that a rehabilitated Toews will solely must man second-line — or, due to Adam Lowry, even third-line — minutes in his return to the NHL scene. A one-year deal and minimal position ought to give Toews the possibility to essentially get his toes beneath him as soon as once more. Ought to he carry out properly, the polarizing return may stretch right into a multi-year marketing campaign along with his childhood-favorite NHL squad.
