Jets Should Avoid Signing Jonathan Toews – The Hockey Writers Winnipeg Jets Latest News, Analysis & More

Winnipeg Jets’ general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff recently said he hopes to “be in the mix” for landing Jonathan Toews, who is toying with an NHL comeback.

“Knowing Jonathan and knowing what standard he holds himself to as an athlete, and what impact he wants to have in games when he plays, I think it will be an interesting journey to watch how things unfold with him,” Cheveldayoff told the Winnipeg Free Press earlier this week during a sit-down interview.

“Certainly if he’s progressing to that point in time, it would be a real welcome conversation to see if there’s a fit both ways. I think it would be a great story for his career, too. Not that he needs another story to his career. But I think he’s proud of his roots and would be an interesting fit.” (From ‘Chevy interested in Toews comeback starting with Jets,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Jan. 21, 2025.)

Toews is a Winnipegger, a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks, has nearly 900-career NHL points, is an excellent leader, and plays centre, a position Cheveldayoff wants to bolster.

Despite all those facts, the Jets should stay away from the now 36-year-old.

Toews Hasn’t Played in Two Seasons

The biggest strike against Toews is that he hasn’t played a hockey game — any hockey game — in almost two years. He last suited up on April 13, 2023 before missing all of last season and all of this season until now.

Related: Jonathan Toews: Beyond the Glory

It’s a massive question as to whether someone who has been out of action so long could be effective for a high-octane team like the Jets with Stanley Cup aspirations. Removing someone from the lineup who’s contributed to the team’s first-place standing in favour of Toews could have the opposite effect than intended and would be an attempted solution in search of a problem. The Jets lead the NHL in goals with 170 so are clearly not starving for offence.

Toews has been ill with chronic inflammatory response syndrome and long COVID for years now and was not particularly effective as he battled his health challenges in the final two seasons before his long break. He is no longer a point-per-game-calibre player like he was during the Blackhawks’ dynastic early-2010s run.

Toews Likely Isn’t in Game Shape, Went Through Alternative Detox in India

Toews travelled to India late last year for a five-week Panchakarma “detox” at an Ayurveda health retreat that included, to be indelicate, a lot of enemas to cause diarrhea and induced vomiting (he has outlined the process in detail on his social media.) He did this in an attempt to remove “toxins” in his body and heal the immune-system problems he has dealt with.

This alternative treatment is considered by some to be pseudoscience as toxic metals are included in some of the supplements.

“Ayurveda has not been fully studied from a U.S. view. Ayurvedic medicines are regulated as dietary supplements in the U.S. They are not regulated as medicines. This means they don’t need to meet the safety standards as medicines,” John Hopkins Medicine notes, adding “some Ayurvedic medicines may have toxic materials. These can include lead, arsenic, and mercury.”

To be clear, Toews has the right to do whatever he wants with his own body and natural remedies/supplements can be helpful in healing ailments. He also said on Instagram “it left (him) feeling so much lighter and revitalized.” However, considering he said he lost “20 pounds in the first two weeks” due to how often he was in the bathroom, there should be big questions as to just how strong he could possibly be and if he could keep up with the rigours of an NHL game. The Jets have had over-the-hill players in too big of roles before — most notably, Blake Wheeler in his final two seasons with the team — and they were liabilities, not assets.

“For him it’s going to come down to getting back skating on a regular basis and getting that level of conditioning,” Cheveldayoff told the Free Press. “I think he’s going to have to push himself to get his body to respond and see how it responds. I think there’s a lot of layers yet from that standpoint. We haven’t chatted in the last little while, but I certainly had some conversations with his representatives with respect to where things were.”

There’s also the question of whether Toews, even if he does manage to get into good enough shape to be a viable NHLer, can stay healthy.

Cheveldayoff Should Explore Adding a Centre, But Should Look Elsewhere

It’s not Toews or bust for Cheveldayoff and company. If they do want to bolster their depth up the middle and an upgrade over usual second-line centre Vladislav Namestnikov, there are a lot of candidates they can target who have actually played this season. Brock Nelson (New York Islanders,) Scott Laughton (Philadelphia Flyers) and Ryan O’Reilly (Nashville Predators) are just three younger possibilities currently playing on potential trade-deadline sellers.

Last February, Cheveldayoff traded for Sean Monahan and he fit very nicely up the middle. Cheveldayoff should at least attempt to make a similarly-impactful move, and signing Toews wouldn’t be that move. It would make for a nice comeback story for a Winnipegger — heck, the guy has a literal key to the city — but the Jets don’t exist to give players nice comeback stories. Right now, they exist to win, and considering Toews’ age and long layoff, it’s unlikely he’d be able to help them do that.