An unexpected name has been the Blackhawks MVP through Month 1 of the season

While Connor Bedard continues to play a solid game, he’s not yet the star player who’s going to be the Blackhawks hands-down MVP month after month. This isn’t to say Bedard won’t get his fair share of mentions, as he’s currently leading the team in points, but it’s tough to say he’s been the best overall player in the Windy City. 

Late last month, I had a few praises for Ryan Donato, who continues to play lights-out hockey. Donato currently has seven goals and 10 points, and he’s still hitting opponents every chance he gets. While I strongly considered Donato, another player caught my eye and that was blueliner Seth Jones.

Jones is currently third on the team with nine points and two goals, and with 25:46 of average total ice time, he leads all skaters in that latter category. And his game isn’t just that of an all-out offensive-defenseman either, as he’s landing at least two blocks per contest on average to go with 21 body checks. 

While his basic stats are in order, I wanted to dive deeper and show you why, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jones has been the Blackhawks MVP so far with some advanced numbers.

Seth Jones is serving the Blackhawks better than any skater so far

While I’d like to see Jones’ on-ice shooting percentage increase from its current 7.9 percent at even strength, he’s riding a solid on-ice save percentage, which is hovering at 90.5. He leads all defensemen in Corsi For at 49.3, and that number ranks third on the team overall, behind only Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno.

Being on what is still a bad hockey team, I wasn’t expecting Jones to be on the ice at even strength for more goals for than goals against, but a 12 to 14 ratio in that category isn’t half-bad. He’s also been quite the quarterback on the power play, with an on-ice shooting percentage at 5-on-4 of 19.0 percent, with eight goals total while he’s in the game.

Jones has also been an incredible asset on the penalty kill, boasting an on-ice save percentage of 87.5, showing us that, regardless of the situation, he’s been a solid asset at the absolute least. 

As mentioned earlier, I see Connor Bedard eventually breaking through, but for the time being, Seth Jones holds the edge over virtually every skater in the Windy City. We’ll see if the same thing keeps up as the Hawks venture deeper into November.