It is another huge acquisition for Florida, which already has key players like Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling locked up for at least three more seasons after this — and now lands a top-line defenseman in Jones, who is under contract through 2030.
The 30-year-old Jones was the No. 4 overall pick by Nashville in the 2013 entry draft, taken two spots after Florida chose its current captain, Aleksander Barkov, that year.
Jones went right to the NHL after the draft — starting his career with the Predators, then spending six seasons in Columbus and the last four seasons in Chicago.
The Blackhawks never made the playoffs in Jones’ tenure there and aren’t in postseason contention this year, which led to him asking for a trade about a week and a half ago.
“I’ve been here the last four years, through probably the darkest times the Blackhawks have seen in a while,” Jones said last month. “I think things are moving up, they are moving forward. But I think my timeline might be different than ... the Blackhawks.”
In short, he wanted to join a winner — and waived his no-trade clause to move to Florida. For his career, Jones has 97 goals and 335 assists in 839 games. He hasn’t appeared in a postseason game since the bubble season in 2020.
Knight has been part of the Panthers for five seasons, going 44-25-7 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. He is 12-8-1 this season as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup with the Panthers.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl