(AP/WGN) — Jonathan Toews has informed his longtime agent he intends to come back to the NHL after missing the past two seasons.
Pat Brisson confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday that Toews reached out to him on Wednesday to say he’s 100% ready to move forward on a comeback attempt.
Toews, 37, is a free agent now, and his camp can speak with any of the league’s 32 teams immediately. Free agency opens July 1.
A return to hockey would be a triumphant one if Toews can pull it off.
In a March 2024 interview with The Athletic’s Mark Lazarus, Toews said he’s “not satisfied the way things ended in Chicago,” but that his chapter with the franchise has come to a close.
Toews told Lazarus Connor Bedard and the young Blackhawks deserve their own opportunity to help the City of Chicago fall back in love with the sport of hockey, free of the shadow he would cast if he returned in a Blackhawks sweater.
“I honestly do think that chapter is closed,” Toews told Lazarus. “I respect what Kyle and the organization is doing. They decided a few years ago to move in a different direction and I’m all for that. … I don’t think that’s a fit for me anymore. I want to go somewhere and have a chance to be myself and play the game.
“I know my best hockey’s going to come through that way, instead of trying to be in that role where I’m still living with the pressure of our Cup-winning days. That era’s over.”
Chosen one of the NHL’s top 100 players from its first 100 years, the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native played 15 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2007-23 and captained them to the Stanley Cup three times as one of the faces of the franchise. Toews also helped Canada win gold at back-to-back Olympics in 2010 and ’14.
Toews stepped away from hockey two years ago citing the effects of Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and long COVID. His exit coincided with Chicago trading fellow star Patrick Kane and going into a full-scale rebuild.
TSN first reported Toews’ attempt to return.