Jonathan Toews' NHL Comeback With Jets Hits an Early Hurdle

Jonathan Toews' long-awaited return to the NHL is on hold, as the Winnipeg Jets have placed the veteran center and former Stanley Cup champion on injured reserve.

Toews was believed to be a late addition to the Jets' IR just hours before the NHL season was set to get underway, per NHL insider Murat Ates.

He practiced with the team on Sunday for the first time since tweaking something in preseason, which leaves room for optimism, but his placement on the IR will add further panic to the city of Winnipeg and Jets fans.

That now leaves Parker Ford and Brad Lambert on the Jets roster to start the team's first game. Today's practice could give further insight to the situation.

Head coach Scott Arniel deemed Toews day-to-day on Thursday, but it's currently unclear if the severity of the 37-year-old's injury has worsened over the last several days; this is due to his placement on the non-roster injured reserve.

The Manitoba native "tweaked something" in preseason action last week, but considering the Jets have a deep forward group, the organization will probably be extremely cautious with Toews' recovery.

There is no need to rush Toews since he hasn't played in the NHL since 2022-23. Vladislav Namestnikov will center the second line as long as Toews is unavailable, so the team is hopeful they will still be able to manage without too many problems.