Elliotte Friedman makes his thoughts on Chicago Blackhawks' Seth Jones trade to Florida Panthers clear

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman discussed the recent trade involving Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones on his “32 Thoughts” podcast on Monday. Friedman shared his opinion that “Chicago did as well as they could do in that trade.”

The 30-year-old defenseman, whose annual salary cap hit is $9.5 million, was traded alongside a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft to the Florida Panthers. The Blackhawks received young goalie Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in exchange.

“There was really only one team that they (the Blackhawks) could deal with, and that was Florida,” Friedman said on 32 Thoughts. “I'll say this; I think Spencer Knight … I don't know how much better they could have done in terms of a young player. Like they said, “we need a young player who's ready.” And Spencer Knight has been behind one of the great preparers of all time.” [18:05 onwards]

Friedman went on to talk about the 23-year-old netminder, saying Knight was excited to head to Chicago.

“I understand he's excited to go. I understand he's excited about the opportunitym" Friedman added. "That's the kind of player that I would I would say…If people heard that Seth Jones was going to Florida, I would have bet that people out there wouldn't have thought the return was going to be that good." [18:57 onwards]

Friedman also touched upon Seth Jones’ desire to join the Dallas Stars but claimed that they wouldn’t be able to take the high salary cap hit.

Seth Jones had asked to leave the Blackhawks

On Feb. 19, Chicago Sun-Times reporter Ben Pope wrote about Jones publicly expressing a desire to join a team that had a chance to win a trophy.

"I would like to give myself a chance to win in my career," Jones said via the Chicago Sun Times. "I know that the money is not an easy thing to move, and that’s what we’re figuring out."

Friedman had also talked about the issue in last Friday’s edition of his podcast.

"There were some people who were really upset about it, and they said that it didn't come out until after he indicated he wanted to leave. I think this is going to be a really hard deal to do right now," Friedman said.

Jones had waived his no-movement clause for the trade with the Panthers to happen, sources said.