Toews not earning raves Centre’s comeback far from over, but play contributing to Jets’ turbulence By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 5:31 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

MONTREAL — Jonathan Toews held court with a mass of mostly French-speaking reporters inside the Winnipeg Jets’ cramped Bell Centre locker room on Wednesday morning.

It was an impressive display from the veteran centre, who delivered thoughtful, insightful answers in both official languages. He spoke about the thrill of playing in La belle province, where much of his mother’s family still lives, and his hope that the visit might help spark something for him and his struggling teammates.

“A lot of history here in this city. It will be exciting,” he said of facing the Habs.

A few hours later, the Jets dropped their 10th game in their last 14 outings — a 3-2 shootout loss — with Toews posting a familiar, frustrating stat line: 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.

It marked the ninth time in the past 10 contests the 37-year-old was held off the scoresheet, with a secondary assist last Saturday in Nashville the lone exception.

Toews hasn’t scored since Remembrance Day. The three-time Stanley Cup champion currently shares the same offensive totals as much-maligned depth defenceman Logan Stanley: 26 games, three goals, six assists.

He’s also a team-worst minus-12, meaning he’s been on the ice for plenty of goals going the wrong direction.

The underlying numbers aren’t any kinder. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Jets have been outscored 20-8 at even strength with Toews on the ice this season.

His expected-goals percentage, which measures quality of chances, sits at just 42.18 per cent. In other words, opponents are generating 57.82 per cent of the expected offence when he’s out there.

“The big thing to JT is it’s all new to him right now… and he’s the first to admit the league is even faster than when he left it.”

Some perspective: Of the 236 NHL players with equal or greater even-strength ice time this season, Toews ranks 235th in goals-for percentage.

Only Calgary Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar is worse, having been outscored 35-11 (23.91 per cent). Toews sits at 28.57 per cent and ranks 231st in expected-goals percentage.

“The big thing to JT is it’s all new to him right now. It’s been a couple years, and he’s the first to admit the league is even faster than when he left it,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said prior to puck drop on Wednesday.

As he has each time the subject comes up, Arniel praised Toews’ wisdom and experience and expressed hope that those qualities will eventually pay off for a Winnipeg team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

“I know offensively the numbers aren’t there. For him, we’ve talked about it, this isn’t a 10-game, 20-game, 30-game thing. This is about building towards the 82nd game and the playoffs,” said Arniel.

The issue, of course, is Winnipeg must actually qualify for the 16-team tournament first — and right now that is far from certain. A lack of production beyond the top line is among the biggest culprits.

Fairly or not, that puts a big spotlight on Toews, whose free-agent signing by his hometown team was met with massive organizational fanfare, including a glitzy introductory news conference attended by family, friends, fans and even local politicians.

One of Winnipeg’s many problems is they immediately slotted Toews as their second-line centre out of training camp. But his nine points simply haven’t matched the demands of that role.

For context, we reviewed what every other 2C in the NHL has done this year. There are some elite ones, such as Wyatt Johnston of Dallas (31 points), Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton (31), John Tavares of Toronto (29) and Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh (26) leading the way.

Emerging stars like Logan Cooley of Utah (23), Dawson Mercer of New Jersey (21), Mason McTavish of Anaheim (19), Quinton Byfield of Los Angeles (19), Frank Nazar of Chicago (18), Pavel Zacha of Boston (18) and Dylan Cozens of Ottawa (16) have also thrived.

There are also proven vets such as Nazem Kadri of Calgary (22), Tomas Hertl of Vegas (20), Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders (18), Brock Nelson of Colorado (17), Joel Eriksson Ek of Minnesota (16), Sean Couturier of Philadelphia (16) who are getting the job done, too.

Connor McMichael of Washington (15), Erik Haula of Nashville (15) Ryan McLeod of Buffalo (14), Oliver Kapanen of Montreal (14), Alex Wennberg of San Jose (13), Sean Monahan of Columbus (13), Sam Bennett of Florida (12), Pius Suter of St. Louis (12), Vincent Trochek of the New York Rangers (12), Shane Wright of Seattle (11) and Logan Stankoven of Carolina (11) round out the field.

The only club getting less production from its 2C than Winnipeg is the 30th-place Vancouver Canucks, who have auditioned several options with no success. Current placeholder David Kampf has zero points in seven games.

“This isn’t a 10-game, 20-game, 30-game thing. This is about building towards the 82nd game and the playoffs.”

Detroit, using former Jet Andrew Copp, has also received nine points (1G, 8A) in the role. We excluded Tampa Bay, as Nick Paul recently returned from injury but already has five points in seven games.

Misery loves company, and Toews is far from the only Jet scuffling right now. The list is long, with virtually every forward outside of the Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi line mired in a major funk.

Toews has also cycled through a rotating cast of wingers — some due to injury, others due to performance — and nothing has truly clicked.

You can see the frustration Toews is feeling on the ice, where there’s been plenty of stick slams and audible curse words heard as he makes his way back to the bench in recent games following shifts.

And you can hear it in his voice — whether in French or in English — as he speaks with media.

A three-time Cup champion with countless international medals isn’t accustomed to this kind of struggle.

“You get to a certain point and you’re waiting for a bounce, waiting for things to go your way, to give you the energy to get over the hump, and that’s not really how it works,” Toews said Wednesday, while also expressing optimism his fortunes might be about to change.

“I try my best to improve my game, I think it’s getting better. Each game I’m getting chances.”

There’s also an off-ice adjustment phase still underway. The man known as “Captain Serious” is no longer steering the ship or wearing a letter, ceding leadership on his new team to captain Adam Lowry — who called a closed-door meeting after Monday’s blowout loss in Buffalo — along with alternates Scheifele and Josh Morrissey.

“We have a lot of leaders in this locker room, a lot of experience, been on winning teams. We have the energy to be one of the top teams in the league,” he said in French.

“For me, it’s taking time to find my place but I try to have the mentality like when I was a captain — be a leader. It takes time but I’m starting to find my place here.”

“I try my best to improve my game, I think it’s getting better. Each game I’m getting chances.”

There’s no question Toews’ return to the NHL after a two-year, health-related hiatus has been compelling.

It has brought significant attention to the Jets both in Manitoba and in other markets. Wednesday’s huge scrum in Montreal was the latest example.

The good news: he has been able to suit up for every game, which was far from guaranteed when he chose his hometown team over numerous NHL suitors and signed a US$2-million base deal with up to US$5 million in bonuses.

Toews has already collected the first US$550,000 bonus after hitting the 20-game mark, with similar ones to come if he hits 30, 40, 50 and 60.

The additional incentives — US$500,000 for making the playoffs and US$1 million for winning the Stanley Cup — might be a bit more far-fetched at this point.

“I wouldn’t say that he’s doing backflips with his game,” general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff told the Free Press last weekend when asked for an honest assessment of how his prized free agent signing has gone.

“It’s all a progression. As a group we just need to continue to build as a team.”

Some fans may wonder whether a proud athlete like Toews might eventually decide to cut the cord and call it a career. While anything is possible, don’t hold your breath.

One thing is certain: while his comeback story is far from over, it hasn’t exactly been a page-turner so far.

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Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.