"To be fully honest, I'm not near making that decision yet, and I don't feel like with what I've been through this year and this past season that I have enough clarity on what that decision will be," the captain said Friday after practicing with the Blackhawks for the third time this week.
"I'm just kind of doing my best every day to get healthy and get back into a good place mentally and physically."
The 34-year-old center will play when the Blackhawks host the New Jersey Devils at United Center (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN NOW). He has not played since Jan. 28 and announced on Feb. 21 he was stepping away from the Blackhawks to deal with the effects of long COVID-19 and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, which kept him out the entire 2020-21 season.
Toews has 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 46 games this season. The No. 3 selection by the Blackhawks in the 2006 NHL Draft, he has 880 points (371 goals, 509 assists) in 1,060 regular-season games to rank eighth in Chicago history. He was named Blackhawks captain on July 18, 2008, when he was 20 years old and in 2017 was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.
He is in the final season of an eight-year contract he signed with the Blackhawks on July 9, 2014.
"I think either that decision will be clear for me this summer, or it'll be a situation where I'm really feeling good and really excited and just really ready to train and prepare to get myself to a place where I can play high level hockey again and just enjoy the game," Toews said. "I want to be able to be in that place where I'm really having fun and playing at a high level and contributing to my team the way I know I can.
"All those things are part of what makes the game really enjoyable for me. It's kind of my own conditions for myself and then we'll see. I'm not putting any pressure on myself one way or another. Again, I'm thankful of how supportive the team has been and my teammates as well. It's one of those things that not a lot of people can understand unless you've been through it yourself, so I appreciate everyone's patience with that. Yeah, I'm just trying to do my best one day at a time going forward."
Toews helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010 and the Selke Trophy as the League's best defensive forward in 2012-13.
Coach Luke Richardson said Toews' return should be a boost for the city, fans and the Blackhawks (24-45-6), who have been going through a rebuild, have lost seven in a row and are last in the Western Conference. Chicago has been eliminated from playoff contention for the third straight season and fifth time in six seasons.
"He's like, 'Well, it's not going to be perfect, it might be ugly.' I said, 'We're a little bit ugly right now, so you'll fit right now,' Richardson said. "He'll help us in the face-off circle and just having the captain around will be a good lift for the team and I hope for him, too. He feels a lot better, not perfect but better. So, we'll go from there."
