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An NHL great is saying goodbye to his playing days.
Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews, who played for his hometown team last season, announced his retirement Friday after 16 seasons.
“It’s a privilege to be standing up here to say goodbye to the game of hockey and the NHL. There’s a lot of great players out there that don’t get this opportunity,” Toews, 38, said at a news conference in Winnipeg, inside the sports complex named after him in the neighbourhood where he grew up.
The announcement comes almost one year to the day after the Jets revealed Toews was joining the team following a two-year hiatus from the NHL to deal with symptoms of long COVID and chronic inflammatory response syndrome.
That announcement was June 20, 2025, but the formal signing didn’t happen until July 1, when Toews committed to a one-year contract to be a Jet for the 2025-26 season.
On Friday, Toews thanked the Blackhawks organization, saying how special it was to be with them and that “it all kind of went by in the blink of an eye.”
And he thanked the Jets and team co-owner Mark Chipman for bringing the NHL back to the city.
“I knew what it meant when I was a kid and growing up and being a Winnipegger, but to come back and witness it first-hand by being a Winnipeg Jet, it’s amazing,” he said.
“It means so much to this city. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live out my dream of pulling on that Jets sweater and playing in front of my hometown community.”
Toews was born in Winnipeg and played youth hockey in the city. He was drafted third overall by Chicago in 2006 and made his debut in 2007.
In 2008, at just 20 years and 79 days old, Toews was named captain of the Blackhawks — the youngest captain in franchise history and the third-youngest in NHL history at the time.
He spent 15 years with Chicago, serving as captain for 14, winning three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015) and being awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2010 as the most valuable player in the Cup playoffs.
“I’m so thankful and grateful for the career I had,” Toews said in a news release posted on the Jets website.
“But at this point, it’s one thing to be healthy and to have the hunger — there’s no doubt in my mind that I have the skill set to continue to play at this level and be an offensive player the way I know I can — but it’s just come to the point where it’s taken such a toll, I’m just kind of ready to let the stress level go down.”
The six-time all-star was also included on the list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players, which the league released in 2017 during its centennial celebration.
Toews won the 2013 Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward and was a finalist three other times, while also being honoured with the league’s Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2015.
A two-time Olympic gold medallist for Canada in hockey (2010 and 2014), Toews also won the gold medal at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, back-to-back gold medals at the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships and gold and silver medals at the 2007 and 2008 World Championships, respectively.
He announced in February 2023 that he was stepping away from the game due to his health issues.
He returned to Chicago’s lineup on April 1 and played seven games before the season ended April 13.
On the morning of that season finale, the team announced it would not re-sign him after his contract expired at the end of that season.
In August 2023, Toews announced his intention to sit out the 2023-24 season to focus on his health but said he was not retiring from the NHL.
In March 2025, he told The Athletic that he planned to make his return for the 2025-26 season.
Toews was greeted with loud and long cheers by fans at the Jets’ season-opening game on Oct. 9 and played the entire 82-game season, scoring 11 goals and adding 18 assists.
He was the Jets’ nominee this season for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog ultimately won the award for his comeback from severe knee issues that forced him to miss three full regular seasons.
