Bill Zito talks Seth Jones trade, Tkachuk injury, Panthers’ plan ahead of trade deadline
Bill Zito has shown during his time leading the Florida Panthers’ hockey operations that he is not afraid to make a big move.
There was the Matthew Tkachuk blockbuster in the summer of 2022. There was trading first-round picks to get forwards Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett.
And now, there’s Seth Jones.
The Panthers acquired the five-time All-Star defenseman on Saturday night from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional 2026 first-round pick. The Blackhawks are retaining $2.5 million of Jones’ $9.5 million salary each year. His contract runs through the 2029-30 season.
“We are thrilled Seth is here,” said Zito, who overlapped with Jones during their time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. “We have known each other for some time. [His] character, personality, how we think he’ll fit into things factored into the trade. I think he’ll be a great addition to our team.’’
Jones, 30, was selected fourth overall in the 2013 NHL Draft (two picks after the Panthers selected Aleksander Barkov) and has 97 goals and 432 points over his 12-year NHL career. He started with the Nashville Predators before being traded to the Blue Jackets midway through the 2015-16 season. He spent five-and-a-half seasons with the Blue Jackets before being dealt again, this time to the Blackhawks ahead of the 2021-22 season.
He has seven goals and 27 points through 42 games this season entering his Panthers debut Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he will play on Florida’s second defense pairing with Niko Mikkola and be part of the second power-play unit.
Of his 97 goals, 27 have come on the power play.
Jones has averaged 23:44 of ice time in his career, and has averaged at least 24 minutes of ice time each of the past eight seasons — although Panthers coach Paul Maurice likely won’t be relying on him to carry that much of a workload. He has also blocked 1,400 shots and logged 980 hits.
But Jones has only been in the Stanley Cup playoffs five times during his career, and his last trip there was in 2020.
Now, he’s with a Panthers team that is well on its way to its sixth consecutive postseason appearance and has a chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
“When you look at the standard in the NHL, this is it,” Jones said. “The way they play, the style of hockey, it’s physical. It’s in your face. It’s aggressive. Everyone works hard on both sides of the puck, and that’s the most important thing for me. You can trust everyone out there. All five guys are doing their job, and then you have Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] in net to make the big saves. There’s really not a stone left unturned here when it comes to hockey.”
And with Jones under contract for five more years after this season, he’ll have plenty of time to make an impact on the Panthers.
“He’s not gonna be a rental, that’s for sure,” Barkov said. “He’s here for a long time, and that’s awesome. He’s one of the best defensemen in the world. Playing against him is always tough. He’s good on both ends of the puck. So to add a guy like that is unbelievable.”
But while the Panthers receive a boost with the addition of Jones, they are almost assuredly without another one of their key players for the rest of the regular season.
Zito said that star winger Matthew Tkachuk is going to be out “for an extended period of time” while recovering from an apparent groin injury that he sustained while playing for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“We hope to get him back to the playoffs. You have a projection, you have a diagnosis, and we have course of action. How and where and what manner the progress of that [looks like] is still yet to be determined.”
The Panthers placed Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve on Sunday in order to recall goaltender Chris Driedger. The move takes his $9.5 million cap hit off the books as long as he is on LTIR. He must stay there for a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. Monday will mark his fifth game missed.
However, if Tkachuk were to remain on LTIR throughout the remainder of the regular season, Florida can use that cap relief to continue beefing up its roster ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. Friday. Teams don’t have to be cap compliant in the playoffs, meaning Tkachuk’s salary can be used to augment Florida’s roster and then they can be back at full strength with Tkachuk in the lineup during the postseason along with whatever additions the Panthers might make.
As of Monday, the Panthers have just over $8.7 million to work with should Tkachuk stay on LTIR.
As for whether any additional moves will be made before Friday? Zito was mum on that front.
“I don’t know that [putting Tkachuk on LTIR] says anything other than we have space,” Zito said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 3:57 PM.
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