BOSTON -- The way the Florida Panthers are hoping to withstand being without defenseman Aaron Ekblad for the next 20 games comes down to two words: Seth Jones.
Though Jones is still learning to adapt to the Panthers, after being traded from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1 for goalie Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, that learning curve will need to accelerate. It was announced Monday that Ekblad has been suspended without pay for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, costing him 20 games, starting when the Panthers visit the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.
It's a trade that looks even more momentous in hindsight.
"[Ekblad] has been on the top of our No. 1 power-play unit, so Seth will step into that," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "He takes more penalty kill time than Seth has, but that's a place that we wanted Seth to step into. We wanted him to kill more penalties in the last 20 games to get used to what we do."
Fortunately, Jones has many of the attributes that Ekblad brings to the table. He's a 6-foot-4, 213-pound right-shot defenseman, compared with the 6-4, 220-pound right-shot Ekblad.
Maurice hopes that lessens the sting.
"They're very similar in size and range. They can get across the ice. They can take ice. It fits how we defend," Maurice said. "We're not a 'give ice' team. So the silver lining is -- we felt with Seth, he's not a rookie player. He's going to learn our game.
"We thought we could take him from 25 minutes down to 18 or 19, and now we're just going to push him right back up there to what he's used to, but ask him to play a game that is ours. So he'll get more reps. He's going to get penalty kill time. He's just going to step into all the things that Aaron did. We were lucky we had two of them for a few games and it was pretty good for us."
Jones has played three games for the Panthers since the trade, averaging 21:03, and has 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in 45 games this season. Ekblad has played 23:31 per game this season, with 33 points (three goals, 30 assists) in 56 games.
"I think it's just next-man-up mentality," Jones said. "That's the system we play. Obviously, Aaron's a big part of this team. Special teams, 5-on-5, everything involved. It's every defenseman's job to be a little bit better, 10-15 percent better, and fill that void because we definitely will miss him."
Especially given how new to the team Jones is.
Still, he's been impressed with what he's seen in the brief time he's worn a Panthers sweater.
"We play a five-man unit and everyone does their job, everyone tracks, and we're able to kind of suffocate teams with the way our defensemen can pinch," Jones said. "Power forwards are always there to cover. So it's been a good first three games for me, just to come in and see the system, try to get used to it and just try to play my part in winning."
The suspension of Ekblad will run into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Because the Panthers have only 18 regular-season games remaining, the defenseman won't be eligible to return to play until the third game of the Eastern Conference First Round.
Until then, the defense pairs won't look all that different than they did before the trade for Jones.
"It's just really a swap-out from the 'D' we've ran all year," Maurice said. "So Ekblad comes out, Jones goes in. We've had [Dmitry] Kulikov and [Niko] Mikkola back together. That's been their pair all year. Uvis Balinskis plays with [Nate Schmidt]. So we kind of look exactly like we did 10 days ago on our blue line. So there's no adjustment for us there."
