Morning Flurries: Are the Avalanche signing Jonathan Toews?

Can never have too many centers, right?

The rumor mill has been hot whilst waiting for the Stanley Cup to get awarded and the opening of the free agent market on July 1st. As always, there’s a lot of smoke on potential moves which most will likely not come to fruition. But one rumor containing the Colorado Avalanche has persisted and that is the impending return of former to play of Chicago Blackhawks captain center Johnathan Toews.

Toews has been away from the game for two seasons dealing with complications stemming from long COVID. In 2022-23 Toews scored 31 points in 53 games, clearly not at the peak of his game. The Avalanche are no strangers to comebacks of their own and seem like a plausible landing place for the 37-year-old center. Since Toews is not under contract to any team currently he can meet with clubs and make a decision, just delaying the announcement until July 1st.

The list seems to have narrowed and word on the street is that Colorado and Toews’ hometown Winnipeg Jets are the finalists. Both teams have a need for center depth, though Colorado could consider a Toews signing a move that makes Charlie Coyle and his $5.3M salary expendable. Due to his age, Toews could sign a low base salary deal with performance bonuses, which makes the signing a low-risk move but as always it depends what other transactions are needed to make the roster work and the expectations on what he can provide.