There is certainly a trend to the way Bill Zito has added pieces since he began as general manager of the Florida Panthers four and a half years ago.From Sam Reinhart to Sam Bennett to Brandon Montour — and there are others — Zito has worked to identify players he and his front office think can benefit in a big way from a change of scenery.It’s what they obviously hope will happen with Seth Jones after he’s languished on a last-place team in Chicago.But when it’s suggested to Zito that his latest trade was a very aggressive move, he answers with a question.“You’re characterizing it as bold or whatever — you know, a defenseman of his talent, and you have a chance to get him, don’t you?” he said Sunday.You certainly do if you’re confident like Zito is that Jones will find his top form in South Florida. The two were together with the Columbus Blue Jackets, so Zito knows the player better than most, but he credited thorough work from his pro scouting staff in getting everyone in the front office to a place where they felt comfortable making this move.They believe Jones will fit in nicely now that he doesn’t have to be the man. He can just be a cog in the operation.“The biggest thing on our team is how all the pieces connect and how they perform as a unit,” Zito said. “And I think that’s another part of Seth, I think he fits right in.’’A major piece of Saturday night’s trade was obviously the salary retention, which makes Jones a $7 million player instead of $9.5 million for the next five-plus years. With an escalating salary cap over the next few years, if Jones finds his best form, $7 million a year should be absolutely on point.“Yeah, that was a huge part of it,” Zito said of the salary retention by Chicago. “Absent that, I don’t think it can happen.”And it came at a cost in the form of a first-round pick plus goalie Spencer Knight.“I’ve got nothing but praise and admiration for Spencer,” Zito said. “He’s a wonderful player and a wonderful person. I know he’s going to do really well there.”Veteran netminder Chris Driedger was called up Sunday and now gets the chance to be the backup the rest of the season. It’s full circle for Driedger, who five years ago got his first real NHL crack with Florida and put up big numbers that he parlayed into a three-year, $10.5 million deal with the Seattle Kraken. He came back as Florida’s No. 3 last offseason on a one-year, $795,000 deal. And now he’s back in the NHL.“We might go out and get a No. 3 goalie now,” Zito said of adding depth behind Driedger and No. 1 Sergei Bobrovsky.With Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve, the Panthers actually have lots of cap flexibility. Zito would not confirm a timeline for Tkachuk, but I think the team will make an announcement Monday regarding it. My sense is Florida can use Tkachuk’s cap hit before Friday’s deadline and he’s likely out until the playoffs.All Zito would say is that the Panthers may not be done adding.“We’re going to work until Friday at the deadline, and if there’s a way to make us better and we think it’s a prudent way to make us better, we’ll do it,” Zito said.Of course they will. The Panthers want to defend their Stanley Cup title and will continue to be all in during this win-now window. That’s what the Jones trade Saturday night said yet again.“That’s a trade, too, that is for five years (Jones’ contract),” Zito said. “That’s a big piece of it for us. But yeah, I don’t think we’re ever going to be the people that don’t compete and do everything we can every year.”I would imagine if Florida adds again it will be a piece up front.“I think it’s more a function of who’s available and does it help us without being disruptive,” Zito said. “We have our cake. It’s made. It’s baked and we have the layers of the actual cake. But this is frosting on top, and it works real well.“But then we have a New York strip, everyone likes New York strip, right? But it doesn’t work with the cake. So just something that can supplement what’s here.”That sounds like a depth forward more than splashy addition up front, but we shall see.It was easy to look at the Jones deal and also draw a straight line to pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Aaron Ekblad and wonder if that means he’s gone this summer. But even with the Jones acquisition, the Panthers have the ability and the desire to try to re-sign their key free agents, which obviously includes Ekblad but also forward Sam Bennett.“We continue to talk to the (free-agent) guys as we always have,” Zito said.He didn’t want to say more on those discussions, but if I were to read between the lines, I think the Panthers are still hoping to extend both of those free agents before July 1. Whether it gets done or not is another question, but there’s a desire to do so.There’s a world in which both Ekblad and Jones are part of the same right side of the Panthers’ D beyond this season.For now, it’s all in for another Cup chase. After losing Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to free agency last summer, the Panthers entered the season knowing they would eventually have to try to add a blue-line piece. If they’re right about their assessment of Jones, they might have just hit another home run.(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
.