Blackhawks need struggling Seth Jones to resume anchoring defense

The Blackhawks need Seth Jones to play better than he has the past month.

Disregarding all the over-the-top vitriol Jones receives on social media, that's an objective fact. Since returning from a foot injury on Dec. 21, the 30-year-old defenseman hasn't anchored the Hawks' defense as steadily as the team needs.

"[I'm working on] being a little harder defensively," Jones said recently. "I've been out for quite a few goals lately."

During five-on-five play in the Hawks' last 10 games, Jones has been on the ice for 13 goals against — tied for most on the team. To be fair, he has also been on the ice for 11 goals for — by far the most on the team, three above second-place Connor Bedard. Jones' shifts have featured extremely high-event hockey, which isn't necessarily bad, but is in this case.

Moreover, Hawks opponents have generated a 106-66 advantage in scoring chances during Jones' ice time in this span, a 38.4% ratio that ranks fourth-worst on the team. His 34.2% expected-goals ratio ranks third-worst.

Jones and assistant coach Kevin Dean have had regular conversations over the past two weeks, as they always do. Dean has shown Jones video clips revealing how, earlier this season, he was more effectively using his "body and athleticism" to win puck battles and create enough separation from opposing forwards to give himself time and space to break the puck out. He hasn't done that as well recently.

"His timing was off," Dean said Jan. 5. "He got a little shell-shocked that he was on for a lot of goals, but we talked about it. He's really accountable, which is great. He's like, 'Yeah, I've been terrible.'

"We talked about winning pucks and keeping the puck out of his net for a while. That's how you get some confidence. You don't get confidence when you go out and, every period, you get scored on. It sucks. Even if it's not your fault, it sucks and you lose confidence."

Jones' neutral-zone defense, a longtime weakness, had also improved earlier this season — thanks to ex-coach Luke Richardson's 1-2-2 formation, which worked uniquely well for him — but has slipped recently. Sorensen's new formation, an aggressive hybrid version of a 1-1-3, has complicated things.

"[It] has been a struggle with the new system, trying to figure out when to pressure and when to stay back behind the dots and let them have the zone," Jones said recently. "My numbers have been better this year at standing up at the blue line. ... [But] as of late, the reads aren't the same if we have numbers back in those three-on-two and three-on-three plays. I'm trying to figure that out."

Things have improved slightly over time. It seemed like Jones might've fully turned the corner after an excellent performance Wednesday against the Avalanche, which included a beautiful breakout pass to Tyler Bertuzzi to set up Bedard's third-period goal. Sorensen praised Jones afterward for "competing harder."

Even early on Saturday, Jones expertly defended Connor McDavid shortly before the Hawks' opening goal. But he became more turnover-prone later in the first period and was ultimately on the ice for three Oilers goals (two during five-on-five play), although none were explicitly his fault.

By spending so much time in the defensive zone, Jones hasn't been able to contribute as much in the offensive zone, either, which is where he excels most and where the Hawks rely on him the most. His shot-attempts rate per 60 minutes has dropped from 11.9 pre-injury to 9.1 since. He hasn't been great on the power play, either.

As the Hawks forge deeper into the season's second half — continuing Monday against the Flames — improvement from Jones would help them keep the results more respectable.