King's aren't interested they have a fight for the bottom pair between: Brandt Clarke (does not need waivers), Jordan Spence (does not need waivers), Tobias Bjornfot, and Andreas Englund (unlikely to be claimed off waivers).

They just drafted Dvorak and are high on Spence, who are both prospects who don't require waivers.

Fair enough. It’s hard to look at other teams and see their needs and how they value their prospects. Sadly Jones requires waivers which is why I traded for waivers exempt players

The problem here is that you are trying to sell an undersized, waivers-eligible defenseman who hasn't been able to earn an NHL spot for younger players who don't have to pass through waivers.

The real question is which team has a place(and a need) for him? Most of the teams you picked seem to have pretty congested blue-lines already so I doubt they have much interest in Jones. From the outside I'd say Vancouver, San Jose, Arizona or Chicago could maybe have some interest but I doubt they feel like giving much up for him.

In general I think you should probably temper your expectations about the value this player should return given his lack of track record in the NHL and now waivers-eligible status.

I mean he was one of the better defenseman in the whole AHL. Yea he loses value because he isn’t waiver exempt but he’s signed for cheap for 2 years.

As for not making the nhl lineup, that’s all on gallant. He’s an old school coach who didn’t believe in undersized defensemen. He would rather play Harpur who isn’t that good over Zac Jones simply because Harpur is 6’6 lol

Nashville would need to pass. Our LHD is packed at the NHL level and with the inclusion of Molendyk after this draft the LHD pipeline is a fair amount stronger than our RHD.

The Kings will likely be starting the season with one extra skater only rather than 3, we understand where you are coming from. The good news is lots of players pass through waivers, it's an incredibly rough to have a player make the roster out of camp only to be sent down for a guy who didn't on another team. He has the upside, but might squeak through waivers due to his size.

The Kings will likely be starting the season with one extra skater only rather than 3, we understand where you are coming from. The good news is lots of players pass through waivers, it's an incredibly rough to have a player make the roster out of camp only to be sent down for a guy who didn't on another team. He has the upside, but might squeak through waivers due to his size.

Gallant is far from the only coach to favour the big lads, the thing is that the NHL as a whole doesn't value undersized defencemen much unless they are absolutely elite. While he is signed for cheap, his role to this point doesn't suggest this is likely to be an underpay.

The fact that he is waivers-eligible means that any acquiring team needs to have a very high level of certainty that he will take a regular spot on their defence and be a better option than their current lineup. If that is the case then how much of an upgrade is he? Does he simply improve on your 6th Dman, or your 5th or do you believe he has a very strong chance of being an upgrade in your top 4? Given his lack of experience at the NHL level it would be incredibly optimistic to assume he would feature among a team's 4 best defencemen.

Following my reasoning above most teams would likely view him as at best a bottom-pair upgrade. This begs the question: what would you pay for a possible bottom-pair upgrade who might also never be more than a 7th Dman at the NHL level?

Of the teams listed here, the only trade that I could see happen is with Vegas, the other teams already have a difficult numbers game and Jones doesnt help, he just muddies it more.

Why would Vegas trade their own prospects for that? I’m definitely not making the trade for either one of those guys…Cormier and Jones are very similar but Cormier is younger and under team control longer. KK is a physical presence that will be replacing McNabb sooner than later

None of the players are top prospects, but I would rate Jones the best of the 3, and more importantly the closest to NHL ready, and for a team competing now- Jones would have more value, so thats why it could work. the other deals suggested dont do much for the acquiring team.

Rangers could probably throw in a pick if needed. Like I said above, it’s hard to see other teams’ needs and value their prospect when you don’t really follow them

Plus I also picked teams not in the East besides Montreal

KK is definitely NHL ready. We’re just absolutely stacked on the blue line….

Zac Jones has struggled to consistently crack the Rags lineup, Nash has to pass here

Yea that’s all because of the coach’s preference. Preferred Harpur over Jones. That says it all

I don’t see the Flames being interested. Only way would be if Kylington isn’t able to bounce back or we decide to move Zadorov, but either way we wouldn’t be trading a prospect like Poirier for him

Jones's value to a team would be as a PP QB

Ok, he's played 38 total NHL games and has 1goal and 7 assists. That hardly screams "guy who'll quarterback my powerplay this season".

Beyond this the recent trade returns of Gostisbehere, Petry, DeAngelo, Barrie and Durzi (who actually have a proven track record of NHL level play and offensive production) doesn't showcase a very big market for that skillset. If a team was truly looking for a young PP QB guys like Addison (who MIN don't seem enamoured with) or Heinola (who seems lost in the numbers game in WPG) would likely be far more promising options. For more experienced options Barrie, Kylington, Gostisbehere and Erik Gustafsson could likely be had for a decent price around the deadline.

All this to say that I doubt any team looks at Jones and believes he could be a solution for their PP at the NHL level as things stand.

I mean he only plays 15 minutes and 0 powerplay time lol You just named guys who were actually given a chance

Dallas traded a 1st for Lundkvist who wasn’t a proven NHLer besides having good SHL stats

That's a fair point and it's not impossible that Jones has a fan in another team's management or coaching staff that pushes for them to acquire him. I would however point out that Lundqvist's 1st round pedigree and right-handedness likely boosted his perceived potential and price. This is similar to Lias Andersson who would never have returned a 2nd based on his play if he wasn't a former 7OA pick.

As for opportunity you are 100% right it's a Catch-22, if they aren't given the opportunity they can't prove themselves and attract other teams' interest. But the truth is that the NHL is an extremely competitive environment and if he can't leave no doubt about being one of the 6 best defencemen on his team it makes it hard for another team to believe he will be a meaningful upgrade on their own roster worth paying for.