"I plan to play, but it's not my decision," the Blackhawks captain said before scoring twice against the Minnesota Wild in Chicago's final preseason game Saturday. "But I don't think that's up in the air, I'm pretty sure."
Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said after the game Toews would be in the lineup Wednesday.
"That's the plan," Colliton said. "He does a lot of different things for us that we were missing last year, the face-offs, the battles. He's so good down low in the offensive zone, there's not many guys who are better, and it just adds a different dimension to our team.
"Obviously, he's an excellent penalty killer, plays net front on the power play, so there are lots of different things he can do. We have to manage him and try to put him in a position to succeed, keep him fresh as much as we can. We'll work at it."
The 33-year-old center did not play last season because of chronic immune response syndrome. Toews participated in all but two practice days during training camp (maintenance days) and played his fourth preseason game Saturday.
"I'm pretty happy given what the last month has looked like, what I felt like going into training camp," he said. "I just feel like I've taken a step almost every day, so it's pretty exciting to think that way. I've got to stay with it and keep doing all the little things right, but ultimately, I like that I feel confident, my game is there, my energy is there, so I've just got to keep taking care of my body."
Toews had one assist and led forwards with 22:48 of ice time in his first preseason game, a 4-3 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sept. 29. He played 17:39 in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 1, had three assists and played 17:21 in a 6-4 win at the Red Wings on Monday, and played 15:33 in a 5-1 win Saturday.
"To be honest with you, a week or two away from camp, I was a little worried, a little panicky," he said, "but I think I kind of just stayed with that attitude, just take it one day at a time and don't look too closely at that big picture, I guess. So yeah ... made some pretty good progress with how I'm feeling and how I'm playing out there and just trying to be smart with the puck, and just rely on my instincts and my experience and slowly everything else will come as long as I keep chipping away, so just having fun with the process.
"It's been challenging, but a lot of guys go through similar things, whether they go through surgeries and long rehabs, and you've got to find ways to find your instincts and find your game and you get back to it."
Toews had not played a game since Aug. 18, 2020, when he scored in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round. That loss eliminated Chicago in the best-of-7 series. Toews scored 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) in 70 regular-season games and nine points (five goals, four assists) in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2019-20.
