ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Chicago Blackhawks have traded defenseman Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers, the team announced late Saturday.
The Hawks will receive goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional 2026 first-round pick, and they’ll retain 26% of Jones’ salary. The Hawks also sent a 2026 fourth-round pick to the Panthers.
Jones, 30, went public last month with his desire to play for a contender and asked Hawks management to facilitate a trade.
“Your prime’s only so long,” he told the Tribune on Feb. 22 before the Hawks played the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio. “You’re only going to play your best hockey for so long. To me, it was something to think about. Obviously I got advice from my agent (Pat Brisson) and things like that too. This is kind of the solution I came up with.”
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers are second in the Eastern Conference.
News of the trade came just hours before the Hawks played the Anaheim Ducks in the finale of a three-game trip.
Knight, 23, who’s 6-foot-3 and 191 pounds, compiled a 44-25-7 record and five shutouts in 80 career games with the Panthers. The Darien, Conn., native was selected at No. 13th in 2019 after two seasons at Boston College.
Jones put up seven goals and 20 assists in 42 games for the Hawks this season.
The defenseman had a tumultuous nearly four seasons in Chicago almost since the moment he and his brother, Caleb Jones, stepped off a boat cruise down the Chicago River, part of a red-carpet welcome and introduction to local media, and stepped into the mess that became the Hawks.
Then-general manager Stan Bowman acquired him from the Blue Jackets on July 22, 2021, as part of an offseason haul — a modest haul, in retrospect — intended to extend the playoff window of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
Jones was a hot commodity at the time: a 6-4, right-shooting defenseman with the offensive skill to captain a power play and eat up top-pairing minutes.
At the time of the trade, Bowman signed Jones to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension with a no-movement clause — a hefty tab that would make him a lightning rod with the fan base when things went sour with the Hawks.
And sour they did.
On Oct. 26, 2021, just six games into Jones’ Hawks tenure, Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block released its findings of investigation of 2010 sexual misconduct allegations levied by then-player Kyle Beach, and as a result Bowman was ousted.
Six games later, coach Jeremy Colliton was fired after a 1-9-2 start, and Derek King was promoted from Rockford on an interim basis.
Bowman’s successor, Kyle Davidson, cast the Hawks into a full rebuild.
The Hawks began parting ways with pivotal pieces of the roster: Brandon Hagel, then Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach and ultimately Kane and Toews.
When asked about that time, Jones told the Tribune in late January: “We all know what happened. Not the plan. Or not my plan.”
But Jones eventually reconciled with his situation and bought into what the Hawks were building.
They hired Luke Richardson, a former defenseman, as head coach the following season. Jones was named to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game
Last season, the Hawks drafted Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick. The generational prospect was an emotional boost for the whole organization.
Over time, Jones became part of the leadership group with eventual captain Nick Foligno and fellow alternate captain Connor Murphy. They came up with the term “identity pieces” for the kind of players the Hawks needed to finally escape the bottom rung of the league.
Last summer, the Hawks brought in proven veterans such as Teuvo Teräväinen and Tyler Bertuzzi with the hopes they would help win more games.
But more troubles were ahead.
The Hawks still weren’t winning out of the game.
Jones went on injured reserve with a right foot injury retroactive to Nov. 14.
Davidson pulled the plug on Richardson on Dec. 5 and installed Anders Sorensen as interim coach.
Jones returned to action Dec. 21 in Calgary but struggled for a stretch.
From mid-to-late January, the Hawks had a series wins or close losses — some going to overtime or a shootout, and Jones sounded more optimistic.
“Feels like we’re on the right path, and I’m just trying to do what I can to make the team better every night,” he told the Tribune on Jan. 31.
Perhaps that was subterfuge, or maybe it was the 5-1 road loss to the Panthers the next game and his view of the Hawks went downhill from there.
Late last month, Jones, at the urging of agent Pat Brisson, began making his intentions known to reporters that he wanted to be traded.
“It’s obviously an unfortunate situation because I came to Chicago to compete in the playoffs, and I thought that out of every team I could’ve signed with four years ago that this was the one,” Jones told the Tribune while in Columbus. “You know, things change and sometimes you’ve just got to roll with what you’re given.”
Jones gave his most forceful comments on the Hawks rebuild after a 2-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.
“We’re the exact same team right now as we were Game 1,” he said Jones. “It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.
“We don’t get a lot of wins because of that.”
Jones appeared in 259 regular-season games for the Hawks, compiling 32 goals and 114 assists.
