Florida Panthers gain D Seth Jones in a commerce with the Chicago Blackhawks

Seth Jones Chicago BlackhawksSUNRISE, Fla. — The protecting Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers bought defenseman Seth Jones in a commerce with the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday evening.Florida were given Jones and a 2026 fourth-round choose from Chicago for goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick out in subsequent 12 months’s draft. The Blackhawks are also maintaining 26% of Jones’ wage.It’s every other large acquisition for Florida, which already has key gamers like Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling locked up for no less than 3 extra seasons after this – and now lands a top-line defenseman in Jones, who’s beneath contract via 2030.”Seth is an elite veteran defenseman and a confirmed chief in our league,” stated Invoice Zito, the overall supervisor and president of hockey operations for the Panthers. “He has been one of the constant gamers of the previous decade serving as a competent workhorse on either side of the puck, and he’s going to lend a hand our membership proceed to compete on the best possible stage.”The 30-year-old Jones used to be the No. 4 total pick out via Nashville within the 2013 access draft, taken two spots after Florida selected its present captain, Aleksander Barkov, that 12 months.Jones went proper to the NHL after the draft – beginning his profession with the Predators, then spending six seasons in Columbus and the final 4 seasons in Chicago.The Blackhawks by no means made the playoffs in Jones’ tenure there and aren’t in postseason competition this 12 months, which resulted in him requesting a commerce a couple of week and a part in the past.“I’ve been right here the final 4 years, via most certainly the darkest occasions the Blackhawks have observed shortly,” Jones stated final month. “I feel issues are transferring up, they’re transferring ahead. However I feel my timeline could be other than … the Blackhawks.”In brief, he sought after to sign up for a winner – and waived his no-trade clause to transport to Florida. For his profession, Jones has 97 aims and 335 assists in 839 video games. He hasn’t seemed in a postseason sport because the bubble season in 2020.Jones’ father, Popeye Jones, performed within the NBA for 11 seasons.Knight has been a part of the Panthers for 5 seasons, going 44-25-7 with a 2.76 goals-against reasonable and a .906 save share. He’s 12-8-1 this season as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup with the Panthers.