FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Seth Jones’s “most vivid memory” whisks him back to six years old, 12 rows up, and a mile high.
Popeye Jones’s whole family was there that night to watch Joe Sakic do the thing, and young Seth was sitting an outlet pass above the blue line (naturally) in the lower bowl of Denver’s Pepsi Center, watching the captain of his favourite team being awarded the 2001 Stanley Cup after a gruelling Game 7.
“Sakic passing the Cup to Ray Bourque. There’s not a lot of more special moments, I think, we’ve seen in this league,” says Jones, now playing in his own first Stanley Cup Final, for the Florida Panthers.
“That’s really the turning point, not only for me but a lot of kids in Colorado and in that youth hockey market, to play the game.”
The game Jones fell helmet over skate boots for that night — over Dad’s beloved basketball — has treated him well in the 24 years since. Two world championship golds with Team USA as an under-18, followed by world junior gold in 2013, and a fourth-overall draft selection by Nashville, a few months after that.
Five trips to the NHL All-Star Game and just as many to the playoffs early in his career, with solid, veteran-laden rosters in Nashville and Columbus. Scrappy organizations doing everything in their power to win.
Then came the trade to Chicago and Jones’s monster $76-million, eight-year contract signing.
Though he understood the hit-bottom-to-draft-high cycle of the NHL’s cap world, Jones had never skated for a team quite like the modern Blackhawks. His joy and his performance waned in concert. He took bullets for not living up to his $9.5-million AAV.
“Chicago was a little bit more about development, right? That was kind of the first switch I had, seeing something other than trying to win every year. I didn’t expect that when I went,” Jones said. “But it’s nice to get back in a situation where we’re just focused on winning, not really too much focus on the future, and trying to be the best we can be now.”
The 30-year-old has four goals and nine points in his longest playoff run yet. He leads all Panthers in average ice time this postseason (25:45) and all NHL defencemen in plus-minus (plus-13).
Jones looks every ounce an all-star again.
“Definitely revitalized,” Jones says. “Winning cures all. At the end of the day, this team just understands how to win. They understand their system. They understand what they need to do to be successful.”
Everyone knew Jones wanted out of Chicago this winter, as the Hawks tumbled to a fifth straight draft lottery. But few knew Jones as well as Blue Jackets exec–turned–Panthers GM Bill Zito.
“I had the luxury of being with Seth in Columbus, knowing what he could do, knowing him as a person, knowing firsthand how he would fit into our room and how he comports himself,” said Zito of the deadline trade that sent a first-round pick and backup goalie Spencer Knight the other way.
Two things were critical in that deal: (a) convincing Chicago to retain salary, as Jones now brings fine value at $7 million against a rising cap; and (b) locking up a top-four right shot with term, knowing that pending UFA Aaron Ekblad could price himself out on July 1.
That Ekblad was suspended down the stretch, for PED use, pushed coach Paul Maurice to lean heavily on the new guy as soon as his number got stitched.
“It was a bit of a challenge when he came in. We played him with every defenceman, just with injuries and our (busy) schedule,” Maurice explained. “And then he’s just getting stronger and stronger. So, his foundational game originally was offensive, and now he’s built this kind of gap closure, great stick, some physicality, but he’s kept then the offensive part of his game. So, that’s what we had hoped.”
Jones perks up when discussing Maurice’s strategy for the blueliners, which is more aggressive than most and has already resulted in seven points from the back in through two games in this final.
Tight gaps. Aggressive pinches down the wall to prolong O-zone cycle pressure. And smothering attacks in the D-zone to suffocate opposing forwards into turnovers.
“When we can chip in offensively, it helps the forwards out. It takes pressure off them to score. And you see a lot of offence now is coming from the second wave or the fourth guy in the rush,” Jones said. “So, we have a lot of great-skating defencemen, and we’re putting the puck in the net.”
Though most conversations about Zito’s deadline wizardry begin with the rental of game-breaking, age-defying Brad Marchand, Jones’s contributions have been equally valuable — and there’s no threat of him leaving town after this series to fetch a raise.
“He’s a quieter man than Brad,” Maurice stated. “But we all are.”
Zito and his pro scouts deserve credit for targeting buy-low talent and integrating those players on the fly into what Jones enthusiastically describes as a family-like dressing room.
“From the players to the coaches to medical staff and equipment guys, you could feel how tight it was,” Jones said. “Everyone respects each other. Everyone wants the best for each other, no matter who gets the recognition.”
A few months ago, the lanky Jones was wearing his Blackhawks contract like an albatross.
Today, he’s partnered with “The Condor,” six-foot-six Niko Mikkola, and if they can contain the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for three more wins, they’ll be soaring all summer.
Jones has struck a fast friendship with partner Mikkola, another Zito defence steal from an Original Six franchise (the New York Rangers), enjoying the giant Finn’s blend of intensity and humour.
The two break down every shift together as soon as they get back to the bench for a blow. And together they form 12 feet, 10 inches and 417 pounds of shield for Sergei Bobrovsky.
“If they held hands, they could touch the boards on both sides with their sticks,” Ekblad quipped. “It’s incredible.”
Make your way around the Cats’ quarters and your notebook fills with rave reviews for Jones.
Ekblad praises his teammate’s skating, puck-handling, and heads-up posture: “I love everything he does on the ice.”
Evan Rodrigues points to Jones’s flair for the big moment.
“Go back to the Tampa series, a huge goal when we’re down in Game 5. And then Game 7 in Toronto, for 60 minutes he was the best player on the ice, hands down.”
Confirmed.
Marchand says the smooth stride and offensive upside were a given. What’s impressed him most is Jones’s ability to read plays and his attention to detail.
“Those things that kind of go unnoticed aren’t on the stat sheet. When you watch him consistently every day, he’s so good in every area of the game. Such a steady D-man at power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5,” Marchand says.
“So, I have a much greater appreciation for his game after playing with him.”
Just as Jones, too, has a much greater appreciation for the game that first enchanted him 23 Cups ago.
