It took a lot for former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews to muster a comeback attempt with his hometown Winnipeg Jets, and he was back in the National Hockey League for the first time in several seasons.
However, as it must for all players, it appears as though his professional playing career is coming to a close.
Former Chicago Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews Is Expected To Announce His Retirement From The NHL
According to multiple sources on X, formerly known as Twitter, Toews has called a press conference for Friday in Winnipeg, where he is expected to announce the end of his playing career.
The news was confirmed by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who wrote the following:
“Jonathan Toews is hanging up his skates,” he wrote on X. “The Winnipeg Jets have scheduled an 11am CT press conference for Friday (tomorrow), where Toews will announce his retirement. 3 Cups. 1,149 career games. 912 points. 2010 Conn Smythe winner. 2013 Selke winner. 2015 Messier Awards. Great career.”
Additionally, Insider Darren Dreger wrote the following:
“I expect Jonathan Toews will officially announce his retirement tomorrow. Hand in hand with the NHLJets. What a career. 👏”
This season with the Jets, Toews appeared in all 82 regular season games and scored 11 goals and 18 assists. The Jets, who won the President’s Trophy and advanced to the Western Conference Semifinal in 2024-25, failed to return to the playoffs in 2025-26.
For Toews, he had several difficult circumstances which began in December of 2020, when he announced he was taking a leave of absence, which was later revealed to be because of chronic inflammatory response syndrome, connected with a COVID-19 infection early in 2020.
Toews Wanted To Join His Hometown Jets Upon His Return To The NHL Last Year
Toews, who is from Winnipeg, said that there wasn’t another team that he wanted to play for upon his return to the game after a two-year absence.
“It really got to a point where I couldn’t see myself wearing any other jersey,” Toews said after signing with the Jets last summer. “To me it wasn’t rational at all. It was more of an intuitive thing where it just felt right. You can go over the million reasons why… I just knew in my heart that this is what I wanted to do, so it felt good every step of the way. I’m really excited to be a part of it.”
After he was informed that he would not be re-signed by Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson in 2023, he began assessing his options.
Longtime Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews Makes Major Announcement