It’s the 19th day of the month, so it seems like a fitting day for one of the biggest announcements of the offseason. Jonathan Toews made it official on Friday, retiring from the NHL at 38 years old.
“I have to say I’m satisfied; I’m fulfilled. I’m so thankful and grateful for the career I had.”
Toews spent the first chunk of his speech talking about his time in Chicago with the Blackhawks, from coming in as a teenager to winning three Stanley Cups. He thanked countless teammates, especially Patrick Kane.
A 16-season career saw Toews play in 1,149 regular season games, including 82 this season for the Jets. He stepped away from the game from 2023 to 2025 to go through what he called a “healing journey.” After missing the entire 2020-21 season with chronic immune response syndrome and some of 2023 with long COVID-19, he even spent five weeks in India to undergo a detox. Toews finally wrapped up his career with his hometown team in Winnipeg, scoring 29 points while playing in all 82 games to defy expectations around his physical stamina.
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Toews was one of the top leaders of his generation, spending 15 years as the Blackhawks’ captain. He was the fastest player to be appointed a captain in NHL history after just 64 games and was the youngest captain to win the Conn Smythe Trophy at 22. He holds numerous Chicago franchise records, including most career overtime goals and shootout goals. He ranks sixth all-time in both goals and points in Blackhawks history. Toews also won two Olympic gold medals for Team Canada and is a surefire hall of famer.
His last season in Winnipeg wasn’t a successful one by his lofty standards, but the fact that he could step in and contribute after the health issues he went through was a storybook ending on its own.
“Yeah, there’s some aspects to it that will always be difficult, especially these next few years I’m sure, but it’s just a kind of intuitive feel that it’s the right time, and like I said, I’m happy I gave it another shot, regardless of how things went this year.”
Watch Toews’ full retirement announcement here:
