When the Chicago Blackhawks gave Seth Jones an eight-year, $76 million deal ahead of the 2021-22 season, they expected him to be a pillar of their franchise for several years to come. That, somewhat unsurprisingly, did not happen: Jones did not play in a single playoff game for a Blackhawks team that was mostly uncompetitive in his entire tenure in Chicago before he was traded on Saturday to the Florida Panthers.
According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Blackhawks traded Jones and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and received Florida's 2026 first-round pick and goaltender Spencer Knight in return. Seravalli also noted that the Blackhawks are going to retain $2.5 million of Jones' contract, or 25 percent, until it expires.
Trade details, per sources:
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 2, 2025
To #TimeToHunt:
D Seth Jones
2026 4th Round Pick
To #Blackhawks:
2026 1st Round Pick
G Spencer Knight#Blackhawks retain $2.5 million on Jones for next 5 seasons.
Pick slides to 2027 if Florida doesn’t have 2026.
This deal might not measure up in terms of flashiness with some of the other trades we've seen over the last month or two in the NHL, but it's a doozy, and it has one clear winner.
NHL Trade Grades: Who won the Blackhawks-Panthers blockbuster for Seth Jones?
It isn't hard to see why either side made this deal. From Chicago's perspective, they're the second-worst team in the NHL right now, with 41 points in 59 games. Rostering Jones, a player who turned 30 in October and is under contract for five more seasons on massive money, won't be beneficial for them when they're finally able to build a contender around Connor Bedard. This deal allowed the team to clear most of his contract while also netting a shockingly awesome return.
The first-round pick speaks for itself, but Knight was at one point a top goaltender prospect who hasn't played in more than 30 games in a season with the Panthers because Sergei Bobrovsky has been there. He will get a chance to play a ton in Chicago and is still just 23 years old.
On the flip side, the Panthers got the right-handed defenseman they needed after losing Brandon Montour in free agency and bolstered their odds of winning another Stanley Cup in the process. Bad contract and package aside, Jones is an upgrade for Florida, and it makes sense that a contending team took a big swing like this.
With that being said, though, it's hard to fully get behind this deal from Florida's perspective. Sure, they managed to get an upgrade, and didn't have a current need for their future first-round pick or even Knight, but that Jones contract even at 25 percent retained is far from stellar, and they gave up a ton to acquire it.
Jones is a fine top-pairing defenseman but hasn't reached 40 points in each of the last three seasons. A lot of that has to do with being on brutal teams, obviously, but if they were willing to do this deal, why not just re-sign Montour, who, even with the Blackhawks retaining some of Jones' contract, is making less than Florida's new defenseman?
It's hard not to consider this deal a major win for Chicago. They got two substantial assets in exchange for an overpaid defenseman and did not even have to retain half of his contract to get this done. The Panthers won't care if they win another Stanley Cup with Jones playing a major role, and this does get them closer to doing so, but that's the kind of outcome they'd need to justify this deal.