Seth Jones still trying to rediscover pre-injury form within new Blackhawks systems

Dissecting Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones' performance is always tricky.

His overpriced $9.5 million salary-cap hit makes him a lightning rod for criticism from fans, many of whom somehow believe the Hawks would be better off without him — which is objectively untrue. Not only is he a skilled defenseman who eats minutes, but also there are plenty of stats that demonstrate how much worse the Hawks have fared when playing without him in recent years.
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Jones has objectively struggled, however, in his first three games since returning (just before the holiday break) from a right foot injury that cost him 16 games. It's a tricky situation for him, too, considering the Hawks changed coaches and systems during his absence.

He attended all the meetings interim coach Anders Sorensen held to discuss the system changes, but there's a difference between seeing something on video and doing it on the ice. His teammates got a head start with the latter.

Sorensen met with him on Friday morning in Buffalo to give some individual feedback.

"He just got back, so...you don't want to put too much on [him]," Sorensen said. "He's got to find his game. He's been around [a long time], and we know what he can do. He knows where his game needs to be. He's watched a lot of our games; he's been in meetings. In terms of the concept and the structure, he's aware of all of it. Now it's just a matter of executing it."

Jones has averaged 23:55 of ice time in those three games, so his workload remains large — although slightly smaller than it was under ex-coach Luke Richardson, who was giving him an NHL-leading 25:43 per game.

The Hawks have an even goal differential of 4-4 during his five-on-five shifts since he returned, and he scored Friday in the Hawks' 6-2 loss to the Sabres. Sorensen commended him for winning a net-front battle to give the Hawks possession and then wisely joining the rush before eventually burying a pretty shot-pass from Pat Maroon.

"It comes back to the competing level," Sorensen said. "That was a good moment where you see he did that and he was effective."

But Jones' overall analytics in these three games are poorer: the Hawks have been outshot 29-20 with a 34.5% expected-goals ratio during his five-on-five shifts. Fans were apoplectic about an ill-advised pinch that led to a Flames shorthanded goal in his first period back, as well. He just hasn't looked particularly sharp.

Jones said Friday morning he's trying to "get some of the timing back with the breakout plays" and adjust to the faster and more frequent decision-making that Sorensen's system requires from defensemen.

He was one player benefiting from Richardson's passive 1-2-2 forechecking structure because it helped cover for his subpar zone-entry defense and backward skating ability. He has allowed 16% fewer opponent zone entries leading to scoring chances this season than last season, per All Three Zones.

Sorensen's neutral-zone trap, which has become basically an aggressive interpretation of a 1-1-3, puts more pressure on defensemen to hold the blue line tightly and gives them less support while doing so. That represents a challenge for Jones.

Jones said Friday night that he felt better as the Sabres game progressed but knows "there’s still room to improve to where I was pre-injury." Sorensen called that a "fair assessment."

As far as the injury itself, he's still dealing with some pain and noticeably limping after every game. But doctors believe his foot is fully healed, and he believes the nagging discomfort is not affecting his play.

"It was just an extremely annoying bone that I had no idea about until you look at the anatomy of the foot," Jones said. "You're like, 'What the hell is that?'"