George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — Word had been out for some time that the Florida Panthers had interest in trading for defenseman Seth Jones.
That said, a deal coming together six days before the NHL Trade Deadline did come as a surprise.
Especially in the way it went down — and with who was going the other way.
The Panthers ended up trading Spencer Knight, their goalie-in-waiting, to the Chicago Blackhawks plus a first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027 for Jones and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft.
For Florida to be able to pull off a deal of this magnitude in the middle of a season was shocking enough; to do so without putting Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR (for now) as well as giving up a prized member of their organization like Knight gave the trade that jaw-dropping value.
Knight making $4.5 million per season through next year — plus Chicago retaining $2.5 million of Jones’ salary for the next five seasons — makes the money work immediately.
How does Jones fit in with the Panthers?
Pretty damned good, actually.
In Jones, the Panthers are acquiring a high-end defenseman who just happens to be the coveted right-shot variety of blueliner.
As good as Knight is, and how highly the Panthers thought of him, he will be able to prove his worth in Chicago perhaps more than he would in Sunrise.
Sergei Bobrovsky is still the starter in Florida.
He is, and was going to be, the starter when the playoffs started.
Knight will get the opportunity to play regularly with the Blackhawks whereas in Florida, he was going to get 33 percent of the starts until the playoffs started.
Then, it was always going to be The Bob Show.
So, aside from about 10 starts down the line, the Panthers did not change up their lineup very much to acquire a coveted asset in Seth Jones.
The Panthers, as the defending Stanley Cup champions, are playing for today. Not a few years down the road, not looking ahead to next year.
Bill Zito and the Panthers are playing for now.
And, the addition of Jones helps them considerably.
When talking to scouts, or even folks who routinely watch the Panthers, the one glaring weakness has been their defense.
Florida is strong with Aaron Ekblad and Gus Forsling as the top pair, and pretty good with Niko Mikkola and Dmitry Kulikov as the second.
Nate Schmidt and Uvis Balinskis have been good as a sheltered third pairing.
But bringing in Jones?
That is a game-changer — and gives coach Paul Maurice a lot of new options.
First, let’s look at the third pair: Schmidt and Balinskis are playing more than they have over the past few years.
Schmidt has rebounded quite nicely from his time in Winnipeg where his play was not commiserate with his lofty salary.
Schmidt has been more free to play his style of game in Florida, and has benefited from not only playing on a third line, but not having to answer questions about why he was on a third line and making top-pairing money.
Balinskis has been solid as well. But both would be helped by getting a little rest every now and again.
They will get that now.
Florida will probably keep Ekblad and Forsling together on the top pair, putting Jones on the right side of Mikkola — a big, strong, stay-at-home d-man — on the second pairing.
Those two will likely see more minutes than the Mikkola/Kulikov pairing found.
Kulikov, Schmidt, and Balinskis will now be able to rotate as the third pairing and give the Panthers depth and matchup options they did not have after losing Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to free agency.
Jones will not kill a lot of penalties, but he will get power play time, either replacing Ekblad as the quarterback of the top unit or, for now, take over on PP2.
Regardless, Jones — who averaged 24:30 with the Blackhawks — is going to eat up a lot of minutes.
He is an offensive defenseman who also plays his position on the back-end extremely well.
Jones and Zach Werenski were a feared defensive duo in Columbus, and the Panthers — led by former Blue Jackets assistant GM Bill Zito — have to be excited about the different players they can rotate with the 6-4 defenseman.
Listen, things did not work out for Jones in Chicago but that can hardly be put on him.
When Jones was traded to the Blackhawks at the 2021 draft, Stan Bowman was trying to retool his team on the fly.
Bowman ended up losing his job, as Joel Quenneville did in Florida, due to the Kyle Beach sexual assault controversy.
The Blackhawks spiraled after that.
The Panthers did not.
Now, the Panthers finally have Seth Jones after Dale Tallon passed on him in favor of Sasha Barkov with the second overall pick in the 2013 draft.
In any other year, the Panthers probably would have picked Jones in 2013.
Colorado had the first pick and, despite Jones being the top prospect leading up to that draft for much of the year, went with Nathan MacKinnon.
Worked out for them.
The Panthers, it was assumed, would take the big, physical defenseman who could move the puck with ease.
Circumstances surrounding the Panthers secretly being for sale, and thereby unable to offer top center Stephen Weiss a contract, led the team to selecting an NHL-ready Barkov.
That, too, worked out pretty well.
The next year, Florida had the top pick and went with a defenseman. Had the Panthers already employed Jones, they likely would not have taken Ekblad.
Again, sometimes things work out.
Now, Jones is in Florida by way of Nashville, Columbus, and Chicago.
He has five years left on his contract at a big number ($7 million, with the Blackhawks covering $2.5 million each season) and will be in Florida for the long haul.
That very well could be the end of Ekblad’s time with the Panthers following this season, but that is by no means set in stone.
Ekblad is a heart-and-soul part of the franchise who plays a huge role on this team and wants to continue being a part of it.
Something may still be worked out.
We shall see.
In the end, the Panthers are trying to win right now and went hard for a player they think makes them better.
Make no mistake: Seth Jones makes the Panthers better.
He wants to win, and wants to win big.
Has he won before? Aside from a playoff series win against Tampa Bay in 2019, no.
But the Panthers did not do much until they went to the Cup Final in 2023.
This is Jones’ first kick with a true contender, and wants to prove he is ready for the bright lights.
Jones is being put on a loaded team with a lot of playoff experience.
He will help them as they will help him.
The Panthers just added a Ferrari to a garage stocked with sports cars and muscle machines.
Game on.