Blackhawks trade Seth Jones to Panthers for Spencer Knight, pick
The Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks are making big moves.
According to Daily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli, the Panthers are adding defenseman Seth Jones from the Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight and a 2027 first-round pick.
The Blackhawks will retain $2.5 million of Jones’s $9.5 million cap hit through the next five seasons, and the pick slides to 2027 if Florida doesn’t have 2026. Jones is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2029-30 season.
Trade details, per sources:
To #TimeToHunt:
D Seth Jones
To #Blackhawks:
2026 1st Round Pick
G Spencer Knight#Blackhawks retain $2.5 million on Jones for next 5 seasons.
Pick slides to 2027 if Florida doesn’t have 2026.
Jones made his trade request public in February via Chicago beat reporter Ben Pope. He has been with the Blackhawks since 2021-22, joining after stints with the Nashville Predators and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Originally selected fourth overall by Nashville in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Jones has played 839 NHL games, scoring 97 goals, 335 assists and 432 points. He has broken the 50-point mark in two seasons, with 57 points as a Blue Jacket in 2017-18 and 51 with the Blackhawks in 2021-22.
The 30-year-old right-handed blueliner has seven goals and 20 assists in 42 games this season.
A native of Arlington, Texas, he joined the Blackhawks, along with two draft picks, in a trade that sent defenseman Adam Boqvist and three draft picks to the Blue Jackets in 2021.
Knight, 23, has been one of the top young goalies for several years and has 80 NHL games under his belt since being selected 13th overall by the Panthers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
In 2024-25, Knight has played 23 games, posting a .907 save percentage and a 12-8-1 record, with a goals-against average of 2.40, serving as a backup to Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers sit atop the NHL’s Atlantic Division with 77 points through 61 games and a record of 37-21-3, while the Blackhawks are last in the NHL’s Central Division with 41 points in 59 games and a record of 17-25-7.