The Blackhawks appear ready to give Jonathan Toews the kind of ending Mats Sundin never got in Toronto.
Chicago GM Kyle Davidson said recently during Patrick Kane’s press conference that the team would like to bring Toews back for a one-day retirement with the organization, and he pointed to the Marian Hossa example as a possible template.
“We'd love to have Jonathan back and bring him back, we did it with (former forward) Marian Hossa. Nothing is set in stone or anything, but I think it's likely we'll go down (that path).”
No ceremony has been announced yet, but the idea carries real weight because of what Toews meant to the Blackhawks. He is the franchise’s sixth-leading point scorer of all-time, and after the 2022-23 season he stepped away from hockey because of health concerns, even taking a sabbatical to India to seek alternative treatment.
Toews dealt with Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and the effects of long-COVID, issues that left him physically unable to keep playing. He later returned to the ice in 2025-26 with the Winnipeg Jets and managed 29 points in 82 games, finishing with 11 goals and 18 assists.
His Chicago résumé already stands on its own: 883 points in 1,067 games, three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a Selke, and a spot on the NHL’s 100th Anniversary Team in 2017-18 as one of the league’s Top 100 players. Alongside Patrick Kane, he formed one of the most dominant duos hockey has ever seen.
That’s why the Blackhawks want to make sure the farewell matches the career. Toews knows he’s done playing, and Chicago seems intent on honoring its former captain the right way.
Toronto, meanwhile, never gave Mats Sundin that same chance.
Sundin spent 11 years as Maple Leafs captain and was central to the club’s most successful stretch since the post-’93 era. He was a leader on the ice and in the community, and the production was elite: 987 points in 981 games, which remains the franchise record, plus 420 goals, 567 assists, and 124 powerplay goals.
But when his playing career wound down, the ending came elsewhere. Sundin signed a one-year deal with Vancouver in 2008-09, retired later, and did so without Toronto allowing him to finish his career there on a one-day deal.
The organization has still recognized him in other ways. Toronto retired his No. 13, placed him on Legends Row, and gave him a hero’s welcome when he returned as a member of the Canucks. Even so, the one missing piece remains obvious.
Now, in 2026, Sundin is back in the Maple Leafs’ orbit in a different role. He was hired as a Senior Advisor to GM John Chayka in May, and he’s helping shape the franchise again, this time from the front office side.
That return gives him a new way to influence the team he led for so long, and it fits the respect he still carries inside the organization. In culture and player development, his voice should matter.
A year in Vancouver didn’t erase Sundin’s legacy in Toronto, just as a year in Winnipeg won’t change what Toews built in Chicago. But the contrast is clear: one franchise may still get the chance to send its icon off properly, while the other never did.
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One option being floated is a short-term, low-risk look at a winger with plenty of NHL mileage and a championship rsum. Toronto does not need to make a splash here so much as find a player who can stabilize the forward group, and the appeal is obvious if the price and term stay modest. The real question is whether the Leafs decide the fit is worth bringing him into camp at all. [Read more 🡒]
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Maple Leafs Blue Line Plan Is Finally Taking Shape
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What makes the rest of the plan interesting is how much it leans on balance elsewhere. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is projected to bring veteran presence alongside Darren Raddysh, while Morgan Rielly could be matched with either Emil Andrae or Troy Stecher to create a more complementary look. It is the kind of setup that suggests Toronto is trying to blend experience, mobility and physicality across the board, even if the final alignment still leaves a few moving parts to settle. [Read more 🡒]