Seth Jones Defence and Offence Carrying Florida Panthers Blueline

Last Word On Hockey's Justin Perez reports that defenceman Seth Jones has become an indispensable two-way catalyst for the Florida Panthers through the first 13 games of the 2026-27 NHL season. With Florida managing a 7-4-2 start amid injuries to Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, and Jacob Markstrom, Jones leads all Panthers defencemen with 15 points, comprising one goal and 14 assists.

Perez highlights that Jones logs a team-high average of 24:54 of ice time per game and quarterbacks head coach Paul Maurice's top power-play unit. Despite starting 58.2 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the defensive zone, Jones also tied a franchise single-game record with four assists during a 7-3 victory against Columbus on October 13.