2024-25 Playoff Focus: Seth Jones (GM7 vs. TOR)
Grabbing the bull by the horns
Aside from their revamped third line, this year’s Florida Panthers are a pale imitation of the team that clinched back-to-back Stanley Cup Final berths. Their forecheck is inconsistent. Their NZ defense is porous. Perhaps most concerning of all, their top dogs (Aleksander Barkov, Gustav Forsling, Matthew Tkachuk) appear to have little juice left.
It’s only fitting, then, that a newcomer’s fresh legs propelled the club past the Leafs in a do-or-die scenario on Sunday night.
Seth Jones was simply the best player on the ice in Game 7. The 30-year-old defenseman imposed his range (6’4”, 213 lbs with decent wheels) and offensive thrust on Toronto throughout the contest, and his sense of initiative almost generated a goal in the first frame:
This sequence is evidence of Jones’ (FLA 3) comfort level within the Panthers’ system. In previous years—or rather, under previous coaches—he would have sagged off and conceded the DZ blue line for fear of getting undressed.
Instead, he identifies the likeliest target (Mitch Marner, TOR 16), snakes inside to undercut the pass high in the OZ and banks the puck off the near-side boards to initiate a swift counterattack. When Game 7’s outcome still hung in the balance, it was Jones who continually triggered Florida’s blinding time to attack.
That dynamic would produce three goals in the span of six-and-a-half minutes in the second period. He was the focal point of Florida’s offensive flurry.
To open the scoring, Jones channeled former Blue Jackets partner Zach Werenski:
Anticipating a DZ retrieval (Barkov, FLA 16), Jones books it up and across the ice to outnumber Morgan Rielly (TOR 44) on the strong-side wall. Sam Reinhart (FLA 13) also beats Matthew Knies (TOR 23) and Marner to the Leafs’ blue line, so one nifty Evan Rodrigues (FLA 17) pass later, Florida has a 2-on-1.
Jones’ decisiveness is plain to see in the second clip. Quick scan. No passing lane? Wire it. Bar down.
Midway through the second frame, he offered another example of how well Paul Maurice’s bold NZ defense suits him:
Rather than waiting for William Nylander (TOR 88) to catch and reset, he rumbles downhill to deliver a devastating blow:
Muscles possession away from the half-hearted forward.
Delays his first controlled touch to allow Jonah Gadjovich (FLA 12, the eventual goal scorer) to tag up at the blue line.
Drop pass to A.J. Greer (FLA 10) upon noticing that both Nylander and Brandon Carlo (TOR 25) are converging on him.
Greer recovers his own rebound and dishes to the forward Jones allowed back onside for the 3-0 dagger.
Jones’ push for offense was undeniable from the start, and he refused to let up until the Panthers had built an insurmountable lead. He was buzzing at the point (finally shooting from middle ice), joining every rush available to him and had a goal called back following a solo counterattack (3rd clip below):
Beyond the instant offense, his aggressiveness nipped Toronto’s designs in the bud. At the risk of repeating myself, Florida’s “shut your brain off and go” approach to NZ defense has been a game-changer for Jones.
Watch him fluster the Leafs on multiple occasions:
To be fair, Jones is…still a bit of an adventure in the DZ. Nylander certainly didn’t make him look good on this shift:
Thankfully, he spent the rest of the night ensuring that Florida stayed on its toes (60.5 xGF%). He rarely needed to call on his in-zone defense because his gap control and prime Brent Burns-ian drive overwhelmed a fragile Toronto outfit, causing the Core Four to fall into a familiar big-game stupor.
While Jones wasn’t ready to replace Aaron Ekblad in the regular season (46.1 GF% next to Forsling) and may never be, he’s a perfect fit alongside Niko Mikkola on the second pair. And much like fellow trade deadline pickup Brad Marchand, he can provide the spark that his battle-weary teammates are struggling to summon at the moment.
To the dismay of Leafs Nation, he saved his most potent strikes yet for his squad’s biggest game of the season.
On the night, he registered a game-high 23:42 TOI, 1 goal, 1 assist and the Panthers outscored the Leafs 2-0 during his 5-on-5 shifts.
Here are the full highlights:
Nice article here...I agree with your take too. Jones was remarkable.