Florida Panthers
Panthers Leaning on Seth Jones More than they Thought
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers had a plan when they traded for Seth Jones.
Well, things happened.
The Panthers acquired Jones about a week before the NHL Trade Deadline, slotting him on the right side of their second defensive pair with Niko Mikkola.
They figured his minutes would be managed after he averaged around 24 minutes a night with the Chicago Blackhawks.
That lasted all of three games.
The suspension of Aaron Ekblad and then an injury to Dmitry Kulikov, put Florida in a bit of a defensive bind.
Now Jones is putting in some serious work.
He’s OK with it.
“My first meeting with Paul was about how deep this team were, the situation we were in,’’ Jones told FHN last week. “He said my minutes would be cut a little bit. But with the injury and what happened with Aaron, it is just part of what happens during a long season.”
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In his first three games with the Panthers, Jones averaged about 21 minutes per game.
But that was with Ekblad in the lineup.
With Ekblad out, Jones’ numbers have jumped to about 26 minutes per night.
On Sunday, he played 30:40 against the Penguins.
Again, the Panthers do not want to play any of their defensemen that many minutes — but with Jones playing on the top defensive pair with Gus Forsling, running the top power play, and then being one of the three in overtime — they figure Jones can handle it.
“I think he was at 30 minutes tonight, and he is capable of doing it,” coach Paul Maurice said after the Pittsburgh win.
“This guy is a special player, we’re very glad he is not a ‘one-off,’ a guy just finishing the year. He is part of our program now, a back-end, right-handed shot who can get up the ice the way he does. Eventually he will play behind Barkov, Bennett, Tkachuk and these guys, we think it will be pretty lethal for us.”
Maurice talked about Jones needing time to learn the Panthers system, something he is doing on the fly right now.
When Maurice talks about what Jones’ game will look like as he continues to work his way through things, he does so in glowing terms.
“He is a very good player and I think there is a tremendous amount more,’’ Maurice said. “Jonesy, a year from now, is going to be a dominant defenseman in this league. I really and truly believe that. But it’s going to take some time. We’re not disappointed by any means, it is just our view of him is very high. We think he can be special.’’
For Seth Jones, joining the Panthers was something he worked toward, waiving his no-trade clause to come to Florida.
After spending the past couple of years on a last-place Chicago team, Jones is hungry to get back to the playoffs — some place he has not been since 2020 with the Blue Jackets.
“Everyone has a common goal in mind, and we want to become better every day, have the mindset of winning in the playoffs,” Jones said.
“That is what we’re pushing for, and it is nice to come into a room like that.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 73
UTAH HOCKEY CLUB at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Friday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- National TV: NHL Network
- Local Streaming Only: Panthers+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
- Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Utah: Panthers 4, Utahs 1 (Jan. 8). At Florida: Friday.
- Last Season vs. Arizona Coyotes: Florida Won 2-0
- All-time Regular Season Series vs. Coyotes/Utahs: Florida leads 22-20-0, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday vs. Montreal Canadiens, 1 p.m.
