I don’t think the Hawks are as anxious to trade Jones as most on this board seem to believe, he is still a 25-30 minute RHD with some offence to his game. Admittedly his numbers in Chicago haven’t been great but then who would have put up good analytics with the roster of players he has played with.

Anyway that’s a long winded way of saying I think the Hawks decline.

I just figured when Bedard is in his prime they'd rather not be paying Jones 9.5 in his mid 30s, the timeline isn't great. Not to say he won't be capable, but I'd imagine getting assets and out of the contract without retention might be attractive.

Good players show well despite their team. Jones doesn't because he isn't that good. He makes 9.5 and isn't a top pair defenceman. That's a terrible contract.

I appreciate the perspective however, Chicago still needs to be able to get to the cap floor so Jones’s contract isn’t a liability and serves a purpose for the time being. As the cap increases over the next few years and young players; Bedard, Celebrini 😜; need bridge deals there will still be more than enough room to accommodate them.

Additionally, Chicago needs some veterans to provide guidance for the young players, no team can just ice six 20 - 22 year old d-men and not expect to damage their development. As much as people want to say he is horrible, they are just wrong and quite frankly it is a lazy take. Is Jones overpaid absolutely but he is still a very capable NHL d-man who would be top pairing on most teams.

Bedard and Celebrini if you get him aren't going to be bridged, but that's a different conversation.

We will see, a lot of people didn’t expect Zegras to be bridged but here we are. Additionally, why not max out a bridge deal (3 or 4 yrs at $9 - 10m per and then sign your 8 year extension when the cap is even higher? Mathews may have started a trend by signing shorter term deals and getting more opportunities to negotiate as the cap increases, ensuring he will always be one of the 3 or 4 top paid players in the league.

Hawks deal is pretty bad for both teams, CGY deal is very bad for CGY

The first trade decline because Leafs can’t afford Seth Jones’s massive contract.
The second trade is somwhat okay, but why would you give away a prospect player?

No doubt about the contract being terrible, but most confuse the contract being bad with Jones being bad.
He is a weaker top pair defenseman /better second pair defenseman in this league . It is not his fault Bowman offered him that contract or that the Hawks need him to play better than he is capable of.
His value to the Hawks vs. his value to another team is too far off to make a deal happen, right now.