Dietz: Hawks’ Davidson gets big ‘W’ for Jones trade

Victories have been in short supply for Chicago's major pro sports teams over the past few years.

But on Saturday, the Blackhawks won twice: On the ice in Anaheim, 6-3, and — far more important — off the ice by trading disgruntled defenseman Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers.

Without a doubt, it's the biggest “W” of Kyle Davidson's three-year tenure as general manager.

Because of Jones' bloated contract, most pundits — myself included — thought he would remain in Chicago until the off-season. But Davidson executed a deal that is a win for everyone, sending Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick to Florida for goaltender Spencer Knight and a first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027.

It's a move that, really for the first time, made me sit up and take notice of Davidson's abilities.

Here's why:

— Teams often make you retain 50% of bad contracts, which would have been $4.75 million in Jones' case. Davidson got the Panthers to agree to $2.47 million, which is huge for the Hawks' flexibility.

— In early February, I talked to another reporter about the team's issues in net. Who is the goalie of the future? Arvid Soderblom? Drew Commesso? Adam Gajan?

We didn't have an answer.

Now, however, Davidson may have found a franchise goalie for the next decade.

Knight, who is only 23, was the 13th overall pick of the 2019 draft and has flashed tremendous ability during three-plus seasons as Sergei Bobrovsky's backup. The 6-foot-3, 191-pounder is 44-25-7 with a .906 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average in 80 appearances. He carries a $4.5 million cap hit and is signed through next season.

Said Davidson on Saturday: “We're really excited about getting a 23-year-old goalie that is just growing in his game and his career and who has an upside that's pretty incredible.”

Of course, don't forget a goaltender is often as good as the defense in front of him — and Florida's is top notch. It will be interesting to see how Knight fares in a much different environment in Chicago.

— Jones, who signed an eight-year, $76-million contract when Stan Bowman was GM, recently told reporters he was tired of playing on a losing team and wanted a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. He doubled down on those comments after the Hawks' loss Tuesday in Utah.

“We are the exact same team right now as we were in Game 1,” said Jones, who has 7 goals and 20 assists in 42 games this season. “It's pretty evident out there. We haven't made any strides to be a better, more simple team and it shows.”

Four days later, Jones was gone. Davidson admitted those comments accelerated the process.

“I felt a little bit more urgency once that became public,” Davidson said. “You don't want to let that linger and become too much of a discussion point even though it did to some extent. You know, yeah, I would be lying if I said it didn't push things along a little quicker.”

Jones averaged 10 goals, 36 assists and a minus-34 rating per 82 games during his tenure in Chicago.

•••

This trade does present some issues for Davidson.

One is the Hawks are now carrying three goalies in Knight, Soderblom and Petr Mrazek. Ideally, Mrazek — who is signed through next season — is traded before Friday's deadline. If that doesn't happen, he should be dealt in the off-season.

Another issue is Connor Murphy is the only right-handed defenseman on the roster. Davidson is unlikely to promote Artyom Levshunov, last year's No. 2 overall pick, from Rockford so don't be surprised if another D-man is added in the coming days.

Finally, the NHL's salary cap is set to drastically increase. It's easy to forget teams must spend a minimum amount of money each season (a number known as the salary cap floor). With so many young players coming up on entry-level deals it will be interesting to see how the Hawks hit floors of $70.6 million, $76.9 million and $83.9 million over the next three seasons.

•••

A final thought on Seth Jones: While he took loads of grief from fans, he was nonetheless a true pro who also happens to be a very good defenseman. The problem is he's really a $6 million or $7 million defenseman, not one who deserved $9.5 million.

Of course, that wasn't his fault. It was Bowman's, who definitely overpaid.

Florida is now much stronger on the back end as Jones figures to thrive now that he's in a winning environment. Don't be surprised if he is a primary contributor to another deep playoff run by the Panthers.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are going to be much weaker for at least a little while. How Davidson addresses this gaping hole will be a storyline to follow in the months ahead.

John Dietz worked at the Daily Herald from 1998-2024, covering the Blackhawks from 2014-24. You can reach him at jdietz6917@hotmail.com.