Seth Jones has reached the playoffs simply 5 occasions in 12 seasons, however he anticipates lots extra postseason runs with the Florida Panthers. He made an instantaneous impression in his debut Monday evening, incomes reward from his new teammates.
Jones hadn’t made the playoffs since his commerce from the Columbus Blue Jackets to Chicago Blackhawks in 2021, rising annoyed with the Blackhawks’ course. Now with the Panthers, he sees a transparent distinction.
“If you have a look at the usual within the NHL,” Jones stated, “that is it.”
The defending Stanley Cup champions wanted Jones to bolster their protection, and he wanted a crew just like the Panthers to compete at a excessive stage.
“I’ve gotten a style of playoffs in my profession and I’ve needed to get again to it. Heightened stage of pleasure attending to play this sort of hockey,” Jones stated in his interview through Katie Engleson after the primary quarter of their match towards the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday evening.
Seth Jones first recreation with the Panthers
Jones logged practically 23 minutes on the ice and got here near scoring within the Panthers’ 2-1 victory over their in-state rival, the Lightning.
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“I needed to play for a contender and Florida was clearly on the prime of my checklist when it got here to that,” stated Jones, who hasn’t appeared in a playoff recreation since 2020. “I need to slot in with this crew, be part of the system, come and convey my recreation, play laborious defensively, assist just a little bit offensively, actually simply match into the system and convey what I can, no matter’s requested of me.”
Earlier than Jones even stepped onto the ice Monday evening, Panthers followers confirmed their pleasure, greeting the five-time All-Star with loud applause and a heat ovation when he was launched within the beginning lineup at Florida’s Amerant Financial institution Enviornment.
The group erupted once more when Jones practically discovered the again of the web within the second interval.
Though the preliminary plan was to ease him into the lineup as he adjusted to the Japanese Convention and new methods, the depth of an in depth rivalry recreation rapidly modified that. Jones logged important particular groups minutes and performed a key position in Florida’s penalty kill, serving to the Panthers fend off seven energy performs.
GM Invoice Zito orchestrated one of many season’s largest trades, buying Jones and a fourth-round choose from the Blackhawks in change for Spencer Knight and a first-round choice.
Jones, the fourth general choose within the 2013 NHL Draft—the place teammate Aleksander Barkov went second—established himself as a top-tier defenseman however carried a heavy workload in Chicago. In Florida, he joins a deep roster, easing the burden he as soon as shouldered with the Blackhawks.