NHL Trade Deadline: Seth Jones Gets His Wish With Blackhawks And Panthers Deal

Seth Jones is headed to a Stanley Cup contender with less than a week to go until the NHL trade deadline.

Seth Jones (Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks traded Jones to the Florida Panthers in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a 2026 first-round pick. If the Panthers don't end up having that pick by the 2026 NHL draft, Chicago will instead receive a 2027 first-round pick.

In February, Michael Augello discussed the logistics of trading Seth Jones.

With the Blackhawks retaining $2.5 million of Jones' cap hit, the 30-year-old defenseman got what he wanted when a report by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times broke on Feb. 19, while Chicago gets a potential netminder of the future.

Pope reported that Jones hadn't formally requested a trade but wanted a chance to win in his career.

Jones later said he wanted to play for a team that competes in the playoffs every year and already has the pieces in place to go all the way.

"I've been here the last four years, through probably the darkest times the Blackhawks have seen in a while," Jones said on Feb. 21. "Things are moving up and moving forward, but my timeline might be different than (Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson, associate GM Norm Maciver) and the Blackhawks'."

With a waive of the no-move clause, Jones now plays for the defending Stanley Cup champions. He's now part of the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers, with 77 points in 61 games heading into Saturday night's games. And Florida's on the hook for $7 million of Jones' cap hit through the 2027-28 season while the salary cap's upper limit is set to increase significantly.

Jones has seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 42 games this season. Only fellow right-handed blueliner Aaron Ekblad has more points than him on the Panthers, with 30. But the only other right-handed defenseman who played for Florida this season is Adam Boqvist, who had six points in 18 games and now plays for the New York Islanders.

Boqvist was part of the trade package the Blackhawks send to the Columbus Blue Jackets in July 2021. That move came after the Blackhawks missed the playoffs for the third time in four years. Chicago then missed the post-season another three times and is on pace to do so again as its rebuild continues.

The dejection on Seth Jones face was palpable, the resignation in his voice telling. After the Chicago Blackhawks lost 2-1 to the Utah Hockey Club Tuesday night, the veteran defenseman sounded off on the state of things in Chicago.

thehockeynews.comThe Blackhawks Are The NHL's Perfect Cautionary Tale Of A RebuildThe dejection on Seth Jones face was palpable, the resignation in his voice telling. After the Chicago Blackhawks lost 2-1 to the Utah Hockey Club Tuesday night, the veteran defenseman sounded off on the state of things in Chicago.

While the Blackhawks used their third and final retention slot on Jones' contract – the other two slots will free up this off-season when the contracts for Jake McCabe and Mikko Rantanen expire this summer – they got a return that aligns with their rebuild.

Knight, 23, has a 12-8-1 record with a 2.40 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and two shutouts in 23 games this season. He spent the 2023-24 season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers but played 57 NHL games between 2020-21 and 2022-23.

Knight enrolled in the NHL and NHLPA player assistance program in February 2023 to deal with an ongoing case of obsessive compulsive disorder, a decision he said he believes will ultimately make him a better NHL goalie.

The Blackhawks' tandem in net is 33-year-old Petr Mrazek and 25-year-old Arvid Soderblom, and 22-year-old Drew Commesso has a 2.91 GAA and .897 SP in 24 games with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. Laurent Brossoit signed with Chicago last summer as well but had knee surgery before the season and a second procedure in November.

Knight has one more season on his contract after this one with a $4.5-million cap hit. He'll be an RFA with arbitration rights in the summer of 2027, when contracts for Mrazerk and Brossoit expire. Soderblom is an RFA after this season.

In the end, two teams got players who align with their plans. For Jones, who has 839 career regular-season games and 37 playoff games, he's likely to return to the post-season for the first time since 2019-20.

Things seem to be moving up and forward for Jones as the NHL trade front gets busier before the March 7 deadline. The New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche swapped had a five-player trade earlier on Saturday, while the Nashville Predators moved Gustav Nyquist to the Minnesota Wild for a second-round pick.

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