Panthers\' Bill Zito: Seth Jones Checked \'Every Box\'
The opportunity to acquire a defenseman like Seth Jones might seem like a simple decision. It was not that way for the Florida Panthers.
A day after pulling off the deal that brought Jones in from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Knight, Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said the Stanley Cup champions took their time before finally agreeing to bring on Jones, who has five years left on a big-money contract.
\"Obviously, this isn\'t a decision made over 10 minutes,\" Zito said Sunday. \"Lots of time and energy and effort and research in all areas of the game, whether it\'s live scouting, knowing somebody, the analytic side, the coachability. And as we went through it, he just continued to check every box. Those are the kinds of guys we can commit to, and we think that he\'ll thrive in our environment.\"
Via ESPN.com