Seth Jones is open to waiving his no-movement clause so the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman can be traded to another team for a chance to play more competitive hockey, according to a report in The Athletic.
“I’ve been here the last four years through probably the darkest times the Blackhawks have seen for a while,” Jones told The Athletic on Friday. “I think things are moving up, they are moving forward. But I think my timeline might be different than Kyle (Davidson, Blackhawks general manager) and Norm’s (Maciver, associate GM) and the Blackhawks.
“There’s nothing against anybody. I’m not holding it against anybody what they decided to do here. Sometimes it’s not in everyone’s plans.”
The No. 4 pick by the Nashville Predators in the 2013 NHL Draft, Jones has 431 points (96 goals, 335 assists) in 835 NHL games with the Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blackhawks. He has 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 38 games with Chicago this season.
The 30-year-old was acquired by the Blackhawks in a trade with the Blue Jackets on July 23, 2021. Five days later he signed an eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value) with Chicago.
When Jones signed that contract, he was part of a rapid rebuild the Blackhawks attempted for the 2021-22 season; that summer, they also acquired forward Tyler Johnson from the Tampa Bay Lightning and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the Vegas Golden Knights and signed free-agent defenseman Jake McCabe to a four-year, $16 million contract ($4 million AAV).
But the Blackhawks struggled that season, finishing 28-42-12 and seventh in the Central Division. They finished eighth in the Central the past two seasons.
“Obviously, this is my fourth year here. I’m not going to go through the whole process when I signed," Jones said in the report. "Just where I’m at, you know, 30 years old, I still have some good years ahead. I want to hope to maybe be in a situation where I’m competing for a Stanley Cup, at least playing some meaningful games in May and hopefully June. That’s where I am right now.
“Discussions with the agent (Pat Brisson) and stuff like that have been going on. Obviously, there’s a lot of moving parts to something like this. But it is what it is, kind of, right now.”
After winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015, the Blackhawks haven’t qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2019-20, when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in four games in the best-of-5 qualifying round before losing to the Golden Knights in five games in the best-of-7 first round.
They’re eighth in the Central (17-31-7) entering their game against the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CHSN+, FDSNOH).
Chicago coach Anders Sorensen wasn’t worried that the Jones trade talk would be a distraction.
“He's a pro. He's been great the last couple weeks here. He's played very well, found his game again,” he said. “He's very well-liked in the locker room, so I don't see an issue there.”
