Jonathan Toews retired from the NHL on Friday, ending a 16-season career that began with the Chicago Blackhawks and finished with the Winnipeg Jets. He made the announcement at the Jonathan Toews Sportsplex in Winnipeg, the city where he grew up.
The timing matters because Toews did not fade out quietly. He played 82 games in his final season with the Winnipeg Jets in 2025-26, finished with 29 points, and reached a point where he said parts of his game struggled early before he settled in again. For a player whose name was tied to winning for more than a decade, that final season gave the public one last look at what remained.
Toews leaves with 912 points in 1,149 games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets. He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015, captured the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2010 after 29 points in 22 postseason games, and earned the Selke Trophy in 2012-13. He was also named among the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017 and won gold with Canada at the Olympics in 2010 and 2014.
His career was built early and sustained through a long core in Chicago with Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. The Blackhawks selected Toews with the No. 3 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, named him captain on Jul 18, 2008, and watched him become the third youngest captain in NHL history at 20 years and 79 days. By the end, he ranked near the top of the franchise record book, including sixth in goals, points and assists, and fifth in games played.
The final stretch also carried a harder edge. Toews spent two years away from the NHL because of an illness, missed the entire 2020-21 season because of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, and later missed time in 2023 because of the effects of long COVID-19. He said the return took time because strength and conditioning had to rebuild over the course of the season, and he called getting back to NHL hockey a huge accomplishment. What comes next was not confirmed on Friday, but the retirement closes the chapter on one of the defining Chicago and Canadian careers of his era.
