In a stroke of poetic justice, Seth Jones made his family’s rough day turn into a celebratory night on the ice. Only hours later than that, when his dad, Ronald “Popeye” Jones, assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets, lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder by a humiliating 125–93 margin in Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals, Seth guided the Florida Panthers to a dominant 6-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The victory pushed the Panthers to their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final, staging a rematch with the Carolina Hurricanes.

At 6’4” and 213 pounds, Seth Jones is a towering presence on the blue line, blending elite skill with poise under pressure. Acquired by the Panthers in a blockbuster trade in March 2025, he’s become a cornerstone of their playoff push. In Game 7, Jones set the tone early, sparking the offense with a blistering goal (his third of the playoffs) at 3:15 in the second period on a 2-on-1 rush. Though he nearly added another at 15:01, the play was waved off for goaltender interference. Still, his impact was undeniable, helping the Panthers improve to a 4-1 all-time record in Game 7s, including three straight under Head Coach Paul Maurice.

Yes, the Panthers’ dominance in the series was a team effort. Brad Marchand led all Panthers skaters with eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in the series, while 20 different Panthers recorded at least one point. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was a brick wall, allowing two or fewer goals in each of the final four games, including a 23-save shutout in Game 4. But for Seth Jones, the victory carried extra weight. In the post-game press conference, he reflected on his father’s tough day. “I’m sure he already texted me. I was watching a little bit of the first half this afternoon before our game, they, it wasn’t pretty for him.” Jones said. “It wasn’t pretty for him. I’m sure when I look at my phone, I’ll have something from him.” The Nuggets’ loss was a bitter one. Denver started strong, jumping to a 21-10 lead in the first quarter. But when the bench units checked in, Oklahoma City roared back, fueled by their home crowd.

The Thunder took the lead midway through the second quarter with a 22-8 spurt to take the lead by double digits. That advantage grew as large as 32 points in the second half, prompting coach Rick Adelman to raise the white flag and go to his third-stringers.

Former NBA power forward turned coach Ronald “Popeye” Jones has experienced his fair share of peaks and valleys, from suiting up for the likes of the Dallas Mavericks to coaching the Nuggets. Sunday’s drubbing loss was Denver’s second consecutive semifinal loss since their 2023 NBA championship, a bitter pill for a team paced by Nikola Jokić in his prime. For Seth, his father’s defeat stung him and intensified his fire, making a family failure a personal victory as he led the Panthers closer to Stanley Cup success.

Seth Jones is a big-time player stepping up in big games for the Florida Panthers

Seth Jones is showing he’s a big-time player in big-time situations for the Florida Panthers, coming through when his team needs him the most. Two games into his Panthers career, Aaron Ekblad’s 20-game suspension for a failed test put Jones into a top-pairing spot and onto the top power-play unit. And then five games later, Dmitry Kulikov’s upper-body injury added to Jones’ workload. Talk about trial by fire! In 12 NHL postseason games with Florida 12 games with Florida, Jones provided three goals and three assists, proving he is also capable of performing under the pressure of the playoffs.

The Chicago Blackhawks’ trade of Seth Jones to the Panthers was not highly rated. But in his first ten games since moving to the top pairing during the regular season, Jones had averaged a staggering 26:38 of ice time per contest in 10 games.“Jonesy a year from now is going to be a dominant defenseman in this league,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said with conviction back in April.

Jones, a 860-game veteran of Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, and now Florida, is trusting his instincts to steer him through this new era. And it looks like this era has all the signs of turning out to be a successful one.