Seth Jones is continuing to hear national recognition, that had previously been a long time coming.
NHL Network is in the midst of their summer series of player rankings, and on Sunday night released their top-ten list of current skaters in the Metropolitan Division.
Top 10 players in the Metro are here.
— NHL (@NHL) September 2, 2019
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Jones was placed at No. 7 by the NHL Network team, the lone (current) Columbus Blue Jacket to dawn the list. Artemi Panarin clocked in at No. 3, only behind Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
"Despite missing the first seven games of last season because of a knee injury, Jones remained one of the best all-around defensemen in the NHL and had 46 points (nine goals, 37 assists) in 75 games," said Tom Gulitti, a staff writer for NHL.com. "Jones...plays in all situations and was fourth in the NHL in averaging 25:49 of ice time."
A big part of Jones' praise this past spring and into this summer was his dominant postseason play. In ten games, the 25-year-old defenseman put up nine points on three goals and six assists. These numbers only trailed Panarin and Matt Duchene for the team lead.
Jones' 2018-2019 campaign saw a slight dropoff from his 57-point season the year prior, but coming into this October fully healthy (knock on wood) should be huge advantage for the alternate captain.
