Blackhawks 2022 Player Grades Part 4: Seth Jones
Welcome back Blackhawks fans to our hawksinsider.com 2022 player grades series. Today, we are going to be taking a quick look at Seth Jones first season in a Blackhawks sweater. So without further ado, let's just dive right in.
Seth Jones arrival was not something Blackhawks were expecting during last off-season. The move came as a bit of a surprise to most as the GM at the time Stan Bowman said the team would be heading in a rebuilding direction. As all Blackhawks fans learned during his time as GM though, don't always trust what you hear from Stan Bowman.
Instead of a rebuild, Bowman went out and got Seth Jones along with Marc-Andre Fleury, giving Blackhawks fans some hope that maybe they could sneak into the playoffs. It became very evident off the bat this season that it simply was not going to be the case for this team. As far as Jones' season individually, in some areas he was pretty decent. And in other areas, the struggles were clear as day.
Although it may not be saying a ton, Seth Jones was far and away the best defenseman for the Blackhawks. He also was able to tally 51 total points on the season, his second highest total for his career. On top of that, he also set a new career high in ATOI (Average Time On Ice) of 26:13, which was over 3 minutes more than any other Blackhawk all season! His offensive numbers were definitely lacking this season, especially when it came to finding the back of the net. He only had 5 total goals on the season and he was unable to get a single power play goal (as well as every other Blackhawks defenseman) the entire year. Jones also set a new career low in plus/minus at -37. However, he was able to double his assists from last season from 23 to 46.
Season Grade: C
Although this season was certainly not what Seth Jones probably had in mind for 2022, he still was without a doubt the best defenseman for Chicago the entire season. So that alone should be worth a "passing grade". One thing is for sure though, both Blackhawks fans and Seth Jones himself are hoping for him to have a better season next year.
Check out Seth Jones goal against the Kraken earlier this year:
