To wrap up the month of July, it’s time to continue with the “goals and expectations” series, as tonight the attention is on former Chicago Blackhawks legend Jonathan Toews. It’s rather difficult to “truly” predict how Toews will produce this season, as he returns to the NHL after last playing in the 2022-23 season. The Jets first off-season “splash” was making the Toews signing official, a one-year, $2 million contract which includes up to $5 million in potential performance bonuses. Toews will be playing for his hometown team, and fans are left wondering if he will still be close to the elite talent that he was with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 1067 career NHL games, Toews has collected 372 goals and 511 assists for 883 points. Oh and how could I almost forget… Toews is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks, most recently in the 2014-15 season.

Toews missed the 2020-21 NHL season after he was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory response syndrome. After figuring out a way to return to hockey the next season, Toews collected 37 points in 71 games. After the 2022-23 season, where Toews appeared in just 53 games, the Blackhawks legend stepped away from hockey after he said that his prior diagnose, along with symptoms of long COVID, were affecting his overall game. Toews has been open about what he is calling his “healing journey” as he worked hard to be able to continue his NHL career this season. After spending 5 weeks in India doing an Ayurvedic detox called a Panchakarma, Toews noticed that his health began trending in the right direction.

Fast forward to today, and Jets fans, along with hockey fans around the world, are anticipating his return to the NHL on opening night. It’s difficult to even compare Toews’ situation to anyone in the NHL recently, the only player I can think of is Gabriel Landeskog, who missed 2 seasons due to a serious knee injury before making his “grand” return at the end of the 2024-25 season. No disrespect to Landeskog, but Toews has already had an outstanding career, which makes it even more difficult to predict how he will produce for the Jets in the 2025-26 season. So what would be a “satisfactory”, “good”, and “bad” season look like for the 37-year old centre?

Again, it’s really tough to have a “standard” set for Toews when you really don’t know if he’ll be able to produce at the rate he used to in his NHL career. You also need to take into consideration that Adam Lowry will be out for the first portion of the season. Toews should be slotted in for opening night as the 3rd line centre to start the season, assuming the Jets aren’t able to find a true 2nd line centre before the season begins.

The Jets could also go “bold” and run a 2nd line of Cole Perfetti, Toews and someone like Gustav Nyquist. Regardless of whether he’s on the 2nd or 3rd line, Toews reaching 40 points (assuming he plays 70+ games) would be a good baseline. Toews brings much more than just his scoring ability though, as his leadership and two-way play will likely be what benefits the Jets the most this upcoming season.

Now that you know what I would call a “satisfactory” season, you can try to imagine both sides of what a good or bad season would look like for Toews. Once Adam Lowry returns to the lineup, the Jets will need to decide if Toews will “jump” to the 2nd line or “fall” to the 4th line. Lowry is not a 4th line player, and Vladislav Namestnikov could be unpredictable, so that’s what will make things tricky.

All scenarios aside, if Toews could reach 45+ points in a full season and become the Jets full-time 2nd line centre, that would be a very good outcome. His contract is only for one year, so assuming he wants to play 2-3 more years in the league, he’s going to want to prove himself. Let’s see what “Captain Serious” has in store.

I have confidence that Toews can still be a good NHL player, but after a long absence, things might not go as planned. Even if Toews is back to full health, it will be an adjustment for him to get back to being a full-time NHL player. If Toews starts the season off slowly that’s totally understandable, but if by the mid-way point the production and “value” isn’t there, the Jets will need to assess what to do next with Toews.

Going back to what would make for a “satisfactory” season, Toews’ veteran leadership will always be there regardless of his production or skill. That alone should keep Toews in the lineup even if he struggles to return to form, and that will be what the Jets “fall back” on if Toews doesn’t live up to what they might be hoping for this season.

Here are some general goals for Jonathan Toews in the 2025-26 season:

I’m hoping the best for Toews this season, and hockey fans around the globe will be closely observing what the season brings for the future hall of famer.