Q&A: Jones on his ‘exciting transition’ to the Panthers

FORT LAUDERDALE – Seth Jones is getting settled in.

After being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in a pre-deadline trade earlier this month, the veteran defenseman has quickly become a key player for the Florida Panthers.

Stepping up in the absence of both Aaron Ekblad and Dmitry Kulikov, Jones has posted three points (one goal, two assists) and 13 blocked shots in 11 games since the trade.

In that time, he also leads the Panthers in total ice time with 281:30.

“He’s a great guy,” forward Anton Lundell said of Jones, who arrived to the Panthers with more than 800 games of NHL experience. “I’m really happy to have him on our side. I’d been following him when he played for other teams, but now that I get to play with him you really see how great a player he is and how skilled. He makes all the right decisions.”

With just 10 games left in the regular season and the Panthers fighting to claim first place in the Atlantic Division, I had a chance to catch with Jones following Saturday’s practice at Baptist Health IcePlex to discuss his transition to a new team, playoff buzz and more.

OLIVE: How are you feeling your first few weeks into being a Panther?

JONES: I feel good! I got into a home and got all my stuff moved from Chicago. Now I can just focus on hockey. It’s been an exciting transition. A lot of new faces, a lot of new things, but I feel good.

OLIVE: You arrived to the Panthers with a contract that runs through the 2029-30 season. How nice is it joining a new team when you know you can plant some roots?

JONES: It’s nice. It’s comforting, but it’s just nice to be here in this organization now and play some winning hockey, play some meaningful games in hopefully April, May and June. I’m just trying to learn and get better every day from the guys that have been here.

OLIVE: You’ve spent quite a bit of time on the road since joining the Panthers. How much have those trips helped you build relationships with your new teammates?

JONES: It’s been good. I’m starting to build relationships with everyone. The road helps with that – dinners and stuff like that. We’re around each other quite a bit, and we’re going on the road again this week. The relationships off the ice obviously translate to on the ice. I’m just trying to fit into the group and do what I can to help the team.

OLIVE: In the limited time you’ve had in South Florida, have you had a chance to explore the area at all?

JONES: A little bit. When I first got here, I was out by the beach in a hotel for a week or two. I found a good sushi spot, some good Italian. I actually like to cook, so I’ve been doing that a little bit since I moved out of the hotel and into my home. It’s been nice. The weather has been a change, which is always good. You can take a stroll through the neighborhood any time you want or head to the beach. You can kind of get away from hockey in that sense.

OLIVE: On the topic of the weather, how much have you had to adjust your wardrobe?

JONES: Yeah, I think the trench coats and sweatshirts are going away for a while [smiles]. I had so much heavy winter stuff coming from Chicago. I brought a lot of that, but I think it might be time to put that in storage.

OLIVE: When you arrived to the Panthers, head coach Paul Maurice talked a lot about the adjustments you’d have to make in terms of systems and also to the style of play in the Eastern Conference. After a few weeks, how has that transition been for you?

JONES: The man-on-man in the D-zone has been a transition, for sure. I’ve played zone practically my whole career. It’s switching off, things like that. That’s been a transition, and the neutral zone has been a little bit of a transition as well. The wing lock pretty much, the 1-1-3 we play, has been a transition, too. I’m doing a lot of video with the coaches every day – after the games, before every game. I’m trying to tweak little things, work on habits that I have from just playing 10 years in basically the same system. It’s coming along well and hopefully I’m just getting better every game.

OLIVE: Speaking of coaches, I know Panthers assistant coach Jamie Kompon previously coached your brother Caleb with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL. Has it helped having a connection to the coaching staff right off the bat?

JONES: It has. I talked to Caleb, too, and he loved him there in Portland. Not just Jamie, but all of our coaches are great leaders and teachers. The video that they can do with me, they’re very clear on what they want from me and precise. Whether it’s on the power play, penalty kill or 5-on-5, that’s been a huge help for me.

OLIVE: With the Panthers missing a few key players on the back end, you’re getting the chance to play a lot of minutes right now. As you adjust to a new team and system, how much is that extra ice time helping?

JONES: It’s nice to play, obviously. Whether you’re playing 20 or 30 minutes, it’s nice to hear your name and hop over the boards. You want to be solid every shift. There’s going to be mistakes in games, so you want to try and learn from those and not make those a second or third time in the same game. There’s been a lot of special teams as of late. The penalty kill is fairly easy for me since that’s just full-on aggression and similar to how we were in Chicago. The power play has been a little bit of an adjustment, just learning everyone’s tendencies and where they want the puck. I think the power play is big when it comes to chemistry, and hopefully we can keep that rolling.

OLIVE: Lately, you’ve had a chance to play a lot with Gustav Forsling. As a player that maybe still flies under the radar in the NHL, what’s impressed you most about him?

JONES: His feet, his stick, his smarts around the puck. It’s not just defensively, but offensively as well. He’s got great deception on the blue line, loves to shoot the puck, loves to create offense. He jumps in the play every now and then. He’s a strong guy and it’s been great playing with him so far. I had a chance to play with Mikks (Niko Mikkola) earlier when I first got here, and now Forsy. Great defensive stick, great defensive posture, hardly ever loses his man and is always there to back you up. I think that’s everything you want in a D partner.

OLIVE: After spending the last few seasons outside of the playoffs, how exciting is it right now knowing you’re building toward a return to the postseason right now?

JONES: You can definitely feel it in the mindset. As soon as I got here, the mindset has been that we’re playing toward something bigger than the regular season. I think that’s a great thing to look forward to. I’m just trying to get acclimated with the guys here and understand the bigger picture. I know they’ve played a lot of hockey the last couple years, going to the Final and all that. We want to do it again. I can still feel the hunger in here from top to bottom. Everyone wants to get bigger, win again and keep the feeling going.

OLIVE: With that, how much are looking forward to seeing more rats fly?

JONES: Yeah, you’re used to smacking those rats around the ice when you lose and are leaving the ice [smiles]. It’s nice to see them now. I think we’re on a little bit of a home winning streak now, which is nice. We obviously want to keep that in our back pocket going forward. That’s a big part of our success.