Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has not played since April of 2023, and his career seemed all but officially over. He also missed a considerable portion of the 2022-23 NHL season, while sitting out the entire 2021-22 season owing to chronic immune response syndrome and long COVID.

However, it appears that he's still open to a return to the NHL at some point. Speaking with Matthew Roberson of GQ, Toews explained that the competitive fire still burns within him, via The Score.

“I haven't spoken about this to a lot of people, but it's definitely still in there,” Toews said. “I've talked to a lot of the guys that are done, and a lot of them will say that desire to be on the ice competing and to be in the locker room with the guys never goes away. It's just something that you have to accept when your time comes. So there's that, but at the same time, 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.

“There's a part of me that really doesn't feel like my career is over yet, and who knows what this next part of the journey looks like, as far as getting back on the ice and trying to make a return to the NHL. There's never any guarantees in life, but I'm going to give it my best shot. I'm going to enjoy every step of the way.”

“I didn't explore trying to sign another contract with anybody because I knew deep down I needed some time away from the game,” Toews said. “I wanted to give my body the time and space to truly heal and figure this stuff out.”

Toews isn't under contract and would need to prove intriguing enough to another NHL club to give him his next deal.

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Jonathan Toews captained the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup wins 

Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates with right wing Patrick Kane (88) after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period at United Center.
© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Toews will go down as one of the greatest players in Blackhawks history after captaining the franchise to three Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

With 372 goals, Toews is ranked sixth all-time in Blackhawks history in goals and points (883). He's also played the fifth most games in team history with 1,067.