Three teams emerge as likely suitors for Jonathan Toews

In today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave a brief update on Jonathan Toews’s market as he attempts to make a comeback to the NHL. Friedman listed the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Winnipeg Jets as likely suitors for the three-time Stanley Cup champion.

Perceived interest in Toews will likely revolve around his salary demands. Toews’ longtime counterpart with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings after undergoing a risky hip resurfacing surgery and missing nearly two months of the regular season. Fortunately for Kane, he was able to parlay his 2023-24 campaign into a $4MM base salary with the Red Wings, with another $2.5MM available in performance bonuses.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison from Kane to Toews, as the latter has missed the last two seasons due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID. After missing that much time, any team interested in Toews may only feel comfortable with a bonus-laden league minimum contract.

All three teams connected to Toews have a common denominator: they are all in their competitive window. Surprisingly, the first team listed, the Avalanche, has the lowest need for a bottom-six center at this time. Colorado finished the year with Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury centering their bottom two lines, and Toews doesn’t project as a notable improvement on either unless they’re willing to move Coyle to the wing.

The Winnipeg Jets, Toews’s hometown team, makes more sense at face value. Assuming that Winnipeg is uninterested in removing captain Adam Lowry from the third line, Toews makes more sense than Morgan Barron for the team’s fourth-line center, especially if they move Barron to the wing to replace Brandon Tanev. Barron has been an underrated defensive forward throughout his time in Manitoba, starting more than 65.0% of his shifts in the defensive zone during his Jets tenure and maintaining a positive rating. Barron would be equally capable on the wing, and Toews could comparatively provide more offense with a higher career faceoff percentage.

Arguably, Tampa Bay makes the most sense of the teams listed. The Lightning are expected to enter the offseason with less than $3.5MM in salary cap space and will have to find a replacement for Luke Glendening on the team’s fourth line. The team could conceivably move Zemgus Girgensons to that role, who’s signed through the 2026-27 season, since he spent much of his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres as a center. Still, the Lightning have highly prioritized faceoff success in that role recently, and Toews’ career 57.3% success rate far outweighs Girgensons’ 45.3%.

Aside from missing the last two years, it was apparent in 2022-23 that Toews had entered the twilight years of his career. Although he received Selke Trophy votes toward the end of his time with the Blackhawks, he was no longer considered one of the league’s top defensive forwards, and his offense cratered. However, it seems that competitive teams believe Toews has more left in the tank, and he’s seemingly prioritizing another Stanley Cup ring before he finally hangs up his skates.