Jonathan Toews is planning an NHL comeback after a 2-year hiatus

Jonathan Toews has informed his longtime agent he intends to come back to the NHL after missing the past two seasons.

Pat Brisson confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday that Toews reached out to him on Wednesday to say he’s 100% ready to move forward on a comeback attempt.

Toews, 37, is a free agent now, and his camp can speak with any of the league's 32 teams immediately. Free agency opens July 1.

A return to hockey would be a triumphant one if Toews can pull it off.

Chosen one of the NHL's top 100 players from its first 100 years, the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native played 15 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2007-23 and captained them to the Stanley Cup three times as one of the faces of the franchise. Toews also helped Canada win gold at back-to-back Olympics in 2010 and '14.

Toews stepped away from hockey two years ago citing the effects of Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and long COVID. His exit coincided with Chicago trading fellow star Patrick Kane and going into a full-scale rebuild.

TSN first reported Toews' attempt to return.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

FILE - In this June 10, 2015, file photo, Chicago Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews hoists the Stanley Cup after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) lines up for a face off during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)