Jonathan Toews plans to sign with his hometown Winnipeg Jets when free agency opens July 1, the team announced on social media Friday.
Toews' deal will be for one year with a base salary of $2 million, plus several performance-based bonuses, sources told ESPN. The longtime Blackhawks captain, who led Chicago to three Stanley Cups, will return to the NHL after missing the past two seasons to deal with inflammatory and immune system issues.
Toews, 37, chose Winnipeg from a handful of teams perusing him because he has a deep desire to win again; the Jets are the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners but were ousted in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Dallas Stars.
Toews stepped away from hockey in 2023 when the Blackhawks announced they did not intend to re-sign the captain after his eight-year contract expired. Chicago also traded away Toews' longtime teammate Patrick Kane as the franchise turned the page to a different era and a full rebuild. Toews was limited during his final two seasons in Chicago as he dealt with the effects of chronic inflammatory response syndrome and long COVID.
In November 2024, Toews posted to social media about a five-week "healing journey" he took in India in which he said he was "happy to say things are trending."
Toews has ramped up training over the past several months in preparation for an NHL comeback.
The No. 3 pick of the 2006 NHL draft, Toews also helped Canada win gold at back-to-back Olympics in 2010 and 2014. The two-way center scored 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists) in 1,067 career games with Chicago. During the league's centennial celebration in 2017, Toews was named one of the NHL's 100 greatest players, along with Kane and Duncan Keith.
