Three-Time Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Toews Signs with Western Conference Team After Two-Year Absence

It's been a long journey for Jonathan Toews, with his last game of professional hockey coming in April 2023 and everyone has been wondering over these last two years what the future held for him.

Back in March, Jonathan Toews expressed his desire to return to the National Hockey League, adding that he's ready to make a comeback and it appears that he's found his next landing spot.

While he can't officially put pen-to-paper until Tuesday, July 1st, Jonathan Toews' return to the National Hockey League was confirmed on Friday morning when TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported that he has an agreement in place with his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets, on a one-year deal.

Shortly after LeBrun's post on social media, the Winnipeg Jets confirmed the news that Jonathan Toews will be joining them for the 2025-26 NHL season.

Toews, 37, had to step away from professional hockey in 2023 due to the effects of long-covid and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), which forced him to miss the entire 2020-21 season before returning that fall.

The Winnipeg native took a "healing journey" trip to India last year, which he says helped him immensely and got him to the point where he could consider returning to professional hockey, with him beginning to skate once again down in Arizona back in February.

Choosing the Winnipeg Jets as his next team makes a lot of sense for Jonathan Toews for a number of reasons - it's his hometown team, he wants to win and they give him a really good chance to do so given the roster they have.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, Toews' return to Chicago is certainly going to be an emotional night for both him and Blackhawks fans as he spent his entire career up to this point in The Windy City, appearing in 1,067 regular season games where he put up 883 points and helped them win three Stanley Cups, cementing his legacy as one of the franchise's all-time greats.