Jones ready to play for Panthers after blockbuster deal
Published
Seth Jones got to skate as a member of the Florida Panthers for the first time on Monday. It's anyone's guess when Matthew Tkachuk will be sharing the ice with his newest teammate.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers confirmed Monday, a few hours before Jones' debut with the team, that Tkachuk is on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. That means Tkachuk won't be back for a few weeks — and possibly not until the postseason.
“Matthew's going to be out for an extended period of time,” Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said at Jones' introductory news conference. “We hope to get him back for the playoffs. You have a projection, you have a diagnosis and a rehab course of action. How and where and in what manner is the progress of that rehab is yet to be determined.”
Losing Tkachuk, who hasn't played since the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last month, is a big blow. Adding Jones, the stellar defenseman who was acquired over the weekend in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, is a big boost.
The Panthers will ease him into things while he learns the Eastern Conference and some new systems, but the veteran defenseman said he was eager to get started. His debut game just happens to come against Florida's in-state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I wanted to play for a contender and Florida was obviously at the top of my list when it came to that,” said Jones, who hasn't appeared in a playoff game since 2020. “I want to fit in with this team, be a part of the system, come and bring my game, play hard defensively, help a little bit offensively, really just fit into the system and bring what I can, whatever’s asked of me.”
He's already acclimating to a bit different weather. It was in the mid-70s when Jones arrived for his first morning skate with the Panthers on Monday, a far cry from the norms in Chicago during the winter months.
“I left my parka in Chicago,” Jones said. “There’s probably a blizzard there right now.”
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