Toews not retiring, will be 'taking time away from the game'

Jonathan Toews said he is not retiring from the NHL and that he might not decide whether he'll play again until late in the upcoming regular season at the earliest.

"I am thinking in my mind to give myself a little bit more time, maybe near the end of the regular season next year, to really engage where I am at and whether coming back to the game at some point is worth it for me on any level," the 35-year-old center said Friday. "So we'll see at that point."

The comments came one day after Toews, an unrestricted free agent who played all 15 of his NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, posted about his NHL future on Instagram after thanking the Blackhawks and the city of Chicago.

"I'd like to announce that I am not fully retiring, but I am taking time away from the game again this season," Toews wrote. "I cannot deny my love for the game of hockey and still feel the passion for competing at my highest level."

Toews had 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 53 games last season. He announced Feb. 21 he was stepping away from the Blackhawks to deal with the effects of long COVID-19 and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, which kept him out the entire 2020-21 season. He returned in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on April 1.

Speaking Friday at a farewell game for former Blackhawks teammate Marian Hossa in Trencin, Slovakia, Toews said, "I think it's important for me at this point to continue giving myself a space and time to heal, and I think getting back in a training and preparing and being on the ice every single day, and trying to get yourself to a place where you can only handle the NHL season in the grind of playing every other day, and also playing at your highest level and your mind you are capable of, it's just a lot right now, and it just puts a lot of stress on what I've been through physically."

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said April 13 that the team would not re-sign Toews, who became an unrestricted free agent after the season. That night, he played his final game with Chicago, a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at United Center.

Toews, who had been Blackhawks captain since July 18, 2008, said he likes the direction Chicago is headed after selecting 18-year-old center Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft. The Blackhawks (26-49-7) finished last in the Central Division last season and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight season.

"They got a lot of good young players and obviously one of them is Connor Bedard," Toews said. "In the last couple of years, the guys that have been there for a while trying to win every game, you know the situation. Especially this past season they're trying to retool, rebuild for the draft. But I think as a young kid like that, obviously there is a lot of pressure on him, but I think just from a short time I got to meet him and chat with him, but also what you see from the interviews on and off the ice, he is like a pretty mature young kid who seems like he is ready to handle it. So I think they got a good start for rebuilding and building a winning team again."

Toews said Friday was his first time skating since April and described himself as "definitely a little rusty."

Asked whether he's considering another role in hockey, Toews said, "No. Not anytime soon. I am a long way away from that. I am just taking one day at a time with my playing career and I think it is important to me to put on that message in my mind that I am not retiring in any shape or form. But I feel it is necessary for me to take some time away from hockey, enjoy other things and just to get to that place where I feel good again and to start to put myself to training every single day and preparation, and just go from there."

Toews had 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists) in 1,067 games with the Blackhawks and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010 and the Selke Trophy as the NHL top defensive forward in 2013.

The No. 3 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, Toews ranks fifth in games played, sixth in goals and points, and eighth in assists in Blackhawks history. His 119 playoff points (45 goals, 74 assists) rank fifth.

NHL.com/cs senior independent correspondent Michael Langr contributed to this report