{"id":548473,"date":"2026-04-09T03:55:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T03:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/548473\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T03:55:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T03:55:39","slug":"after-return-to-nhl-with-winnipeg-jets-masterton-trophy-nomination-special-for-jonathan-toews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/548473\/","title":{"rendered":"After return to NHL with Winnipeg Jets, Masterton Trophy nomination special for Jonathan Toews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Toews<\/a> didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d ever return to the game he loves at the National Hockey League level, but after two years away due to health reasons, Toews has almost completed his first full regular season back and hasn\u2019t missed a game.<\/p>\n

It was announced Wednesday that Toews would be the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>\u2019 Masterton Trophy nominee \u2013 an award presented annually by the NHL to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a good reminder that it is an honour to play in this league and play this sport at the highest level, and it means a lot to me,\u201d said Toews after practice Wednesday. \u201cIt has been a special year with a lot of learning and a lot of growth, and I am thankful for it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a season with a condensed schedule due to the Olympic break, Toews said he\u2019s most proud of his body\u2019s ability to recover and maintain the health needed to suit up for all 77 games so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could be in your mid- to late-20s and in the best shape of your life, and it is still a tough year and the recovery is not easy. So coming into this season, having missed the last two years, there were quite a few adjustments made in order to stay healthy at this level and keep pushing through on days where you are not really feeling great,\u201d added Toews. \u201cI am happy with that. Knock on wood, I am trying to stay healthy through thick and thin and trying to work on my game and do the best I can every day to help this team, regardless of where I am in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that type of attitude teammates have appreciated about Toews this season, including Kyle Connor<\/a>, who was delighted to find out about the nomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know that, but that\u2019s awesome,\u201d said Connor when told of the nomination by a member of the media. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously been through so much and has had a lot of success in his career, and you really see it with a lot of the young guys … He just really sheds light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toews was a key reason the team\u2019s power-play woes were lifted in its most recent win against Seattle on Monday. It marked the first time this season the Jets scored three power-play goals in a game, with Toews getting the first and adding an assist on the second.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Day 1, you could just tell the presence that he had in this room and the type of teammate he was, and I think he just elevates everybody around him,\u201d added Connor.<\/p>\n

There have been ups and downs for Toews this year in terms of production, with 10 goals and 17 assists, but one category he has dominated is faceoffs. Among players who have taken at least 200 faceoffs this season, Toews ranks fifth in faceoff win percentage at 61.4 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a couple of good players over the years, but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever seen a guy that can do what he does,\u201d Scott Arniel<\/a> said about Toews\u2019 abilities at the dot. \u201cBoth forehand, backhand, against big guys, against quick guys … that\u2019s just special to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Toews wins the Masterton Trophy or not, his impact has been felt throughout the Jets\u2019 dressing room this season. He has often been praised for his wisdom, leadership and ability to connect with everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s put an awful lot of work into this. He wasn\u2019t sure how this was all going to play out,\u201d added Arniel. \u201cFor the league to recognize it and for us to recognize it, it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jets continue their playoff push against the St. Louis Blues<\/a> on Thursday evening, with both teams still in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT on TSN3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jonathan Toews didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d ever return to the game he loves at the National Hockey League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[4759,5,78,35887,4,32428,77,18,32441,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-548473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg-jets","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-jonathan-toews-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8473604","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-nhl-sports-hockey-league-nhl","14":"tag-winnipeg","15":"tag-winnipeg-jets","16":"tag-winnipeg-jets-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-52","17":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116372737829168550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}