Seth Jones has been a bright spot for the Chicago Blackhawks this season. He is finally playing closer to the level in which he is being paid.
He is the clear number one defenseman on the Blackhawks, but with a cap hit of $9.5 million AAV, is paid like an top number one in the league. That just hasn’t been the case, and even though he hasn’t reached that status this season on a rebuilding Blackhawks team, he has bounced back nicely and is getting there.
There was a time where Jones was considered one of the very best defensemen in the league while on the Columbus Blues Jackets. In a four-year span, he finished 18th, 4th, 9th, and 14th in Norris trophy voting. In his fourth place season at age 23, he scored a career high 16 goals and 57 points that still stands now.
Jones came somewhat close in his first two seasons with the Blackhawks. He recorded 51 points in 2021-22, his first with the Blackhawks after the trade with the Blue Jackets, and then scored 12 goals the following season in just 72 games.
Jones does everything a number one defenseman should. He plays on the top pairing, leads the team in ice time, is on the power play and the penalty kill as well as leading defensemen on his team in points.
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Unfortunately, he was given money equivalent to other top defensemen in the league that are in the Norris Trophy conversation every season like Cale Makar, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, and Roman Josi. Jones hasn’t received any Norris votes since 2019-20.
It wasn’t great timing that as soon as Jones came to Chicago, everything went wrong and the team dove into a full rebuild. This definitely didn’t help his numbers with many of the top players leaving. He had spoken about not signing up for a rebuild, but it happens.
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Fortunately, the Blackhawks’ rebuild should go quicker than anticipated because of Connor Bedard and finishing right at the bottom of the standings for a few seasons. Jones was able to power through that, even though he is a total -93 +/- with the Blackhawks, and play the way he has this season with some new life in the lineup.
The Blackhawks aren’t ready for playoffs just yet, but are building towards sustained success, not quick success. Chicago needs Jones, who has two goals and 10 points in 16 games and logging close to 26 minutes per night, to continue playing how he is so he can experience playoff hockey…