After returning to the NHL after a two-year hiatus, Jonathan Toews is sure about some things and less so about others.
While the Winnipeg Jets forward acknowledged his playing future is uncertain during his end-of-season media availability on Friday, Toews added that if he were to return, he’d “100 per cent” want to re-join his hometown team, “if they’ll have me.”
“I really loved being part of this locker room this year,” the 37-year-old added. “That being said, if I decide to play next year, I’d love to be part of this team, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Toews joined his hometown Jets last summer after leaving the Chicago Blackhawks and missing back-to-back seasons due to long COVID-19 symptoms.
He managed to play in all 82 games for Winnipeg in his return campaign, but the 16-year vet wasn’t all too pleased with his production.
“Yes and no,” Toews said when asked if he accomplished what he wanted in his return from a two-year layoff. “If I’m being honest with myself and I look back to a couple of years ago, where I was at, it definitely feels like a huge accomplishment … that being said, I think there were parts of my game that really struggled early on.”
Toews finished the season with 11 goals and 18 assists in his 82 appearances for the 35-25-12 Jets.
“The one thing I really struggled with was the speed and playing fast with energy every night … given the fact I hadn’t been playing for quite a while … I’m super happy and proud I went after the dream of playing in the NHL again, but at the same time you have expectations in your mind of what kind of player you can be and how you want to contribute to your team, and obviously I wasn’t anywhere close to that unfortunately.”
Toews personal struggles on the ice underscored a disappointing season overall for last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners. This season snapped a three-year streak of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Jets and was just the second time in eight years they’ll miss the post-season.
“Obviously, we fell short of our goal,” Toews said. “This time last year, thinking about playing hockey and gearing up to try and make a comeback, I was dreaming of playing in front of a (playoff crowd) … and unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.”