There is no secret that the Chicago Blackhawks and veteran defenseman Seth Jones are lookin to mutually part ways at this year’s NHL trade deadline. He signed an an eight-year, $76 million dollar deal with the Blackhawks after being acquired by the team in 2021. Money will be the toughest part of moving the 30-year-old, as he is owed $9.5 million per season over the course of the next five years.
The Blackhawks have already shipped out one of their veterans this season and it’s been nearly a month since they did so. After spending a year and a half with the franchise, Taylor Hall was sent to Carolina as a part of a three team trading involving the Colorado Avalanche on January 23. Chicago received their own third round draft choice in the 2025 draft as a return for the forward, while retaining part of star goal-scorer Mikko Rantanen’s salary for the rest of the season.
There should be multiple suitors for Jones if the Blackhawks can make things work financially. Plenty of signs point to the right-shot defenseman being on his way out of the Windy City, but nothing is for certain until everything gets across the finish line with terms in a deal.
Seth Jones acknowledges the rough stretches he has been a part of
Jones mentioned the rough stretch of the rebuild that the Blackhawks organization has being going through for most of his time in Chicago with the media on Friday.
“I’ve been here the last four years, through probably the darkest times the Blackhawks have seen in a while, Jones said. “I think things are moving up and moving forward, but my timeline might be different than Kyle and Norm’s and the Blackhawks’. It’s nothing against anybody; I’m not holding it against anybody, what they decided to do here. But sometimes it’s not in everyone’s plans.”
The dark times that Jones talks about haven’t been seen in Chicago from a hockey standpoint since the early 2000s. The team has held top picks in the draft over the past couple of seasons, and are in a prime position to land a guaranteed top-five choice in this summer’s draft.
It’s easy to say that the basement is a place where the Blackhawks and their fans have gotten used to over the last handful of years. While the prospect pool that the organization holds gives strong promise toward the future, something needs to be done entering next year to get out of the bottom three spots in the league.
The Chicago Blackhawks front office has urgency in these trade talks
With a big free agency class on the horizon this summer, Kyle Davidson and his team know how important it is to get as much money off the books as possible. The same report from Jones’ comments with the media on Friday also said that the idea of this trade possibility has been “thrown around” for a little while now and they want to “push the needle” toward getting a deal done.
Not only would a Jones trade give Chicago even more cap relief, it would also provide the young defensemen in the organization to get consistent NHL minutes. Ethan Del Mastro has been bouncing back and forth between the AHL and Chicago this season, so he could reap the benefits of a deal being made here. 2024 second overall pick Artyom Levshunov might also get a shot to make his NHL debut near the end of the season as well if the front office can find a good enough trade offer for Jones.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie forward in good company in his last 11 games
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