NHL Rumors: The Chicago Blackhawks Retaining on Seth Jones Makes Some Sense

Seth Jones okay with the Columbus Blue Jackets

Mark Scheig: Seth Jones on if he’d be open the idea of returning to the Columbus Blue Jackets: “Yeah, for sure. It was very special when I played with Zach as partners for the most part of 5 1/2 years.”

Finding a contender that can fit in Seth Jones without money retained won’t be easy

Scott Maxwell of Daily Faceoff: Frank Seravalli notes that it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Seth Jones wouldn’t mind a chance at winning elsewhere. It’s doubtful that Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson’s phone is ringing off the hook with that $9.5 million salary cap hit.

Seravalli said that Jones has a full no-trade clause, so he’ll have to give the Blackhawks a list of teams and with that cap hit, most may not be able to do it. How much money would the Blackhawks consider retaining?

Tyler Yaremchuk thinks they should retain up to 50 percent, and even though it hurts their future cap hit, they need to maximize the return for Jones.

Seravalli adds:

“And I think to support your point, the Blackhawks have a ton of money to spend. They have very few guys under contract beyond next season. Yes, Connor Bedard needs a new deal. Yes, they’re going to go out and try and chase some big name players this summer. But it’s not like, if your Kyle Davidson, that you’re going through the McDonald’s drive-thru line and you can just order a top-end player like it’s chicken nuggets on the menu. That’s not how it works.

So they’ve got $63 million to spend three years from now just to get to the salary cap floor. So retaining that much for that length of time isn’t going to be problematic. But it’s “can you get enough return to justify that much money”.”

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