Winnipeg (56-22-4) won the Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the NHL last season before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference Second Round.
The Jets believe adding Toews, who helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015, can help take aim at their first Cup title.
“With elite athletes they hold themselves to a different standard and they are wired differently both mentally and physically,” Cheveldayoff said. “I don’t know that it’s a gamble; it’s certainly an opportunity. In this game here, athletes that do hold themselves to a different level of accountability, they can do great things.”
Toews has 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists) in 1,067 regular-season games and 119 points (45 goals, 74 assists) in 137 Stanley Cup Playoff games through 15 NHL seasons, all with Chicago. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010 and was voted one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players at the League’s Centennial celebration in 2017, but he has not played an NHL game in more than two years.
“I’m going to try my best to be honest and realistic with myself on what the challenges are,” Toews said. “I think a couple of years ago, I missed the shortened season before I went back to Chicago. In a way, since I hit the ice and [have] really been skating a lot these last couple of months, I didn’t feel like that much time had gone by.
“I know it’s a long time on paper if you’re playing hockey. Lots of things change in the League and teams are different, the game is different and all that, but for myself, it all went by in a blink of an eye.”