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The Florida Panthers acquired veteran defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday for goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who also received a fourth-round pick from Chicago in the 2026 draft, lead the Atlantic Division. Jones had publicly expressed his desire on Tuesday to be traded from the Blackhawks, who have 18 wins in 60 games this season and are in the Central Division basement.

“Seth is an elite veteran defenseman and a proven leader in our league,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “He has been one of the most consistent players of the past decade serving as a reliable workhorse on both sides of the puck, and he will help our club continue to compete at the highest level.”

Jones, 30, is in the third season of an eight-year, $76 million contract, which has an average annual value of $9.5 million. The Blackhawks will continue to pay 26 percent of Jones’ salary — about $2.5 million a year

Jones signed the deal in July 2021, but the Blackhawks’ continued struggles led the five-time All-Star to say he would waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender.

“We’re the exact same team right now as we were Game 1,” Jones said after a 2-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club. “It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows. We don’t get a lot of wins because of that.”

Jones has played in 42 games this season and has seven goals, 20 assists, a minus-18 rating, 18 penalty minutes, 83 blocks, 62 hits and a team-high 24:30 average ice time per game.

The Nashville Predators selected Jones with the fourth overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft. He has 97 career goals, 335 assists, 304 penalty minutes, 1,400 blocks and 980 hits in 839 regular-season games for the Predators (2013-16), Columbus Blue Jackets (2016-21) and Blackhawks (2021-25).

He also has five goals and 19 assists in 37 playoff games.

Jones was voted to the All-Star Game in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. He was a second-team NHL All-Star in the 2017-18 season.

Knight, 23, was a first-round pick by the Panthers (13th overall) in the 2019 draft.

He is 12-8-1 this season with a 2.40 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. Knight’s career record in parts of four seasons (2020-23, 2024-25) is 44-25-7 with a 2.76 GAA and .906 save percentage and five shutouts.

Knight was 1-1 in the 2020-21 postseason with a 2.06 GAA and .933 save percentage.

–Field Level Media