Will there be anybody left to move when the trade deadline rolls around on Friday?
According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Florida Panthers have acquired defenceman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027. The Hawks will retain $2.5 million of Jones’ $9.5 million average annual salary throughout the rest of his contract, meaning he’ll have a $7 million cap hit with the Panthers.
This was the third and biggest of three trades made on Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Colorado Avalanche acquired defenceman Ryan Lindgren and winger Jimmy Vesey from the New York Rangers while the Minnesota Wild picked up forward Gustav Nyquist from the Nashville Predators.
The Blackhawks acquired Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets ahead of the 2021-22 season and they inked him to an eight-year, $76 million contract. The former fourth-overall pick scored 146 points and posted a minus-108 rating in 259 games over parts of four seasons with Chicago while logging 25:15 per night on average.
It became clear that Jones’ time in Chicago was coming to an end when he and the team agreed to seek a change of scenery. The Hawks haven’t made the playoffs since they beat the Edmonton Oilers in the bubble playoffs in the summer of 2020 and Jones, now 30 years old, has only suited up in 37 playoff games in his NHL career.
“I would like to give myself a chance to win in my career,” Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times in February. “I know that the money is not an easy thing to move, and that’s what we’re figuring out.”
Following a 2-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club earlier this week that put the Hawks at 17-34-4 on the season, Jones criticized the team’s lack of progress, saying: “We’re the exact same team right now as we were in game one. It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.”
Adding Jones will give the Panthers an option for their top-four that they’ve needed since Brandon Montour left the team in free agency last summer. Though he’s largely been caved in while playing with Chicago, Jones should fare better playing fewer minutes on a stronger team with the Panthers.
The Hawks are getting a goaltender with upside in Spencer Knight. The Panthers selected Knight with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 draft and he has a .906 save percentage over 80 NHL games. He’s in the second season of a three-year, $13.5 million contract and will be restricted free agent after the 2025-26 campaign.
