Seth Jones: Florida Panthers ‘Are The Standard’

“When you look at the standard in the NHL, this is it,” new Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said.

FORT LAUDERDALE — When Seth Jones asked for a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks, the wanted a chance to win again. He got that with a trade to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“When you look at the standard in the NHL, this is it,” Jones said. “The style of hockey we play — it’s physical, it’s in your face, it’s aggressive. Everyone works hard on both sides of the puck and that’s the most important thing for me. You can trust everyone out there.

“All five guys are doing their job and then you have Bob in net to make a big save.

In the four years since Jones’ arrival in 2021, the Blackhawks have the worst record in the NHL at 99-179-32 and the second-worst goal differential at -335.

For the All-Star defenseman, it was a tough environment to be in. He had a plus/minus of minus-108 in the 259 games he played in a Blackhawks uniform and it led to a lot of scrutiny.

“It’s obviously been a tough four years there in Chicago,” Jones said. “It was not what I envisioned when I signed there as a free agent. I think, when it came to my game, I was putting too much on myself trying to do it all, and it wasn’t the right thing obviously.

“It was hard mentally day-to-day, so I’m happy that I could come here, focus on hockey and just play a simple hockey game.”

Jones has been used to carrying a heavy load for his teams. The 30-year-old blueliner was logging 24:30 of time-on-ice per game at the time of the trade, which ranks 13th in the NHL at the time of the trade.

That will not be the case in South Florida.

Jones will be playing on the second pairing with Niko Mikkola to start his Panthers tenure — sitting behind a top pairing of Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling that averages over 22 minutes of time-on-ice per game.

Florida is easing him in to its system, playing him on the second power play unit instead of his usual spot on the top power play unit — and he is OK with that.

“Winning is everything to us players,” Jones said. “I’m sure my minutes are going to go down a little bit, but I think that’s fine. I go out there and play whether it’s power play, penalty kill. I just want to be solid all-around.”

The Panthers believe they are getting that in Jones.

After all, that was why they took the massive risk in sending goalie-of-the-future Spencer Knight and an additional first-round pick to the Blackhawks to acquire him.

Jones has 97 goals and 432 points in 839 career NHL games. He finished as high as fourth in Norris Trophy voting — doing so with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2017-18 season — and has four total seasons with a Norris vote.

General manager Bill Zito got to see what Jones could bring to a playoff firsthand when he was an assistant GM in Columbus at the time. And he knew it was something his team needed now.

“Seth is an elite veteran defenseman and a proven leader in our league,” said Zito. “He has been one of the most consistent players of the past decade serving as a reliable workhorse on both sides of the puck, and he will help our club continue to compete at the highest level.”

“He’s a big man that covers an awful lot of ice, he’s got lots of experience, he’s got hands that can make a play,” coach Paul Maurice added. “But we’re not going to ask him to make a play 60 feet away. Just some short area plays.

“We just think he’s a real good fit”

Jones is going to be around for the long haul, too. He enters the Panthers with a contract carrying a $7 million cap hit (after Chicago retained $2.5 million per year in the trade) for the next five years after this one. He is going to be around until 2030.

“He’s not going to be a rental, that’s for sure,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. “He’s here for a long time, and that’s awesome. He’s one of the best defensemen in the world and playing against him is always tough. He’s good on both ends of the puck, so to add a guy like that is unbelievable and we’re really, really happy to have him.”

After spending four years on a team that was far from contention, Jones is excited to not only be a Panther, but also be a part of the core.

“I’m extremely excited,” Jones said. “It puts a smile on your face.

“You watch the TV when you’re not in the playoffs and you wish that you were there. I think just getting that feeling again of playing meaningful hockey games in March, April, May and hopefully June again for us. I think there’s a heightened pressure, a heightened sense of preparing for those games. But it’s great. You want to be there, you want to be on the biggest stage and you want to make a difference.

“I’m super excited to be here, super pumped.”