Jonathan Toews is considering trying to resume his NHL career, per report

April will mark two full years since Jonathan Toews last played an NHL game, but the former Blackhawks captain is considering trying to resume his hockey career.

Toews, 36, has resumed skating and is down to a playing weight, the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported Thursday.

Seravalli said several teams have shown interest in Toews, citing the Maple Leafs, Jets and Avalanche as three possibilities. However, it is unclear if returning later this season is an option or if he will aim more conservatively for next season.

Toes told GQ magazine on December 29 that he is doing better health-wise after undergoing an intense, obscure healing process in India, and that his hockey itch has returned.

“I think there’s a big part of me that really wants to give it my all, to get back on the ice and see where it takes me,” Toews told GQ.

“There’s a part of me that really doesn’t feel like my career is over yet. Who knows what this next leg of the journey looks like in terms of getting back on the ice and trying to get back to the NHL. There’s never no guarantees in life, but I will do my best. I will enjoy every step of the way.”

Toews stepped away from the NHL when the Hawks told him they would not offer him a new contract after the 2022-23 season, in which he tallied 31 points in 53 games but wasn’t nearly as efficient defensively as he used to be.

The final years of his career were heavily affected by prolonged COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, conditions that he admitted wreaked havoc on his energy levels. Weight gain seemed to be another problem.

He wrote on Instagram in November that he “recently spent five weeks in India undergoing an Ayurvedic detox called a Panchakarma,” and he told GQ that he actually did it twice, first in September 2023 and then again last autumn. The treatments he described are alarming, such as a five-day stretch of consuming only ghee butter, but he said they helped him in the end.

“It was the most life-changing thing I’ve ever experienced, and I literally got stronger every month since then,” he told GQ.

The Hawks, for several reasons, likely wouldn’t be a possible fit if Toews returned to the NHL.

General manager Kyle Davidson has made it clear that he wants a new generation of leaders to develop in the locker room without displacing longtime legends. And as a rebuilding team with no playoff chances, the Hawks probably wouldn’t be very appealing to Toews either.