The Chicago Blackhawks must entertain getting rid of Seth Jones for two simple reasons beyond he is struggling

The criticism of Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones has usually been overblown.
Since he has returned from IR, the frustration with the team's highest-paid player has been warranted.

Seth Jones has been terrible, and he was at his worst last night against the Calgary Flames.

He was on the ice for four of Calgary's five goals. Three of them you can point to him as being directly responsible.

On the Flames' first goal, he did not attempt to block the shot.

He allowed his stick to get raised and therefore was trying to clear the puck one-handed on Calgary's third goal.

Then he made a terrible pass that led to the Flames getting a rush and a short-handed goal.

At least, interim head coach Anders Sorensen cut his ice time to hold him accountable for such a terrible night. Jones did take accountability for a night that was so bad that fans started to boo every time he touched the puck.

It is nice for Jones to take some accountability, but at the same time, GM Kyle Davidson must consider how Jones fits into the long-term plans beyond his contract demanding it.

Davidson must look into trading Jones for two simple reasons...

1) The high potential of Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov of becoming the team's top pair for a decade-plus along with the depth of young defensive the Hawks have to easily survive without him.

Rinzel may not make it to the NHL for a few seasons, but he is on pace to win the Hobey Baker Award. He has been fantastic in his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota.

He is showing the he is capable of living up to the big ceiling he had when the Blackhawks drafted him with their third first-round pick in 2022.

Levshunov is going through the growing pains of developing in the AHL. He has had good games in Rockford, and he has had instances where he was late for a team meeting and got scratched.

Still, he is immensely talented that the Hawks thought so highly of him they made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft.

Those two have the potential to be like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on the next great Hawks team (not saying they will be them, just using it as an example).

Alex Vlasic continues to emerge as a good blueliner in the NHL and Nolan Allan has also shown promise. Louis Crevier has even shown some potential to be a capable bottom-pair defenseman with his size. Plus, Ethan Del Mastro and Kevin Korchinski still have loads of potential as they continue to develop in Rockford.

Jones at this point may no longer be the guy to lead the next great defensive unit. He is sort of getting in the way.

2) Jones is not cut out for a rebuild.

He was brought in by Kyle Davidson's predecessor who was trying to turn things around quickly. When that did not happen, and Kyle's predecessor left, Jones was stuck in this rebuild situation.

While his numbers up until recently have actually supported a solid blueliner, he has been prone to give off the vibe of hating all this losing with his body language.

He has also continued to go through prolonged stretches of poor play. This is not the first time we have seen Jones be awful on the ice.

He did not score a goal during the 2023 portion of last season. Now, he has just been terrible since he came back from IR.

You have to wonder how all this losing--something he did not sign up for--wears on him as the season goes along. Then add in he is being asked to be the No. 1 defenseman on this team when he is probably better suited to be the No. 3 on a good team, he just seems to be a poor fit for a rebuild.

Buying him out should not be an option as the cap savings are not worth it.

Trying to see if he will waive his no-movement clause does make sense because even if the Hawks will have to retain a good chunk of his salary, they at least can get something back for him. A late-round pick might be worth it just to free up the roster spot.

Given that he can still be productive if you are not judging him based on his salary, a contender might be interested in giving up a draft pick if he is on the market for say $4 million AAV.

The only reason the Hawks should not consider moving Jones is if he flat-out refuses to waive his NMC. Then you are stuck with him. Otherwise, his cap hit and contract should no longer dictate his being on the Blackhawks anymore.