Putting on Winnipeg Jets jersey like 'getting drafted again,' says hometown hero Jonathan Toews

Jonathan Toews is officially back.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion, who last played an NHL game more than two years ago, was introduced Friday as the newest member of his hometown Winnipeg Jets, donning a jersey with his signature No. 19 at a team press conference.

The Jets announced their intention to acquire the 37-year-old centre last month, but it only became official this week with Toews signing a one-year deal worth $2 million US, plus performance bonuses tied to games played and playoff success.

The longtime Chicago captain last played in April of 2023, and on Friday, he told reporters he was just grateful for the opportunity to return to the ice, let alone with his hometown club in front of friends and family.

"It's an honour and one that has really lit that fire again, that excitement for the game," Toews said.

"You have these moments throughout your career where, I don't want to say you get jaded, but you get used to it, and you kind of settle in. This is another moment that kind of brings me back to that new feeling like you're getting drafted again."

Toews walked away from the game following the 2022-23 season as he was dealing with symptoms of long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome.

Those health issues kept Toews out of the lineup for the entire 2020-21 season, and he was in and out of the lineup in his final year with Chicago, at one point missing two months of action.

Toews revealed on social media in November that he travelled to India and underwent the Ayurvedic detox Panchakarma, a traditional therapy that uses massage, herbs and diet to cleanse the body, after "almost five years of searching for a way to heal the inflammatory and immune system issues that took me out of hockey."

He said