BUFFALO – Over the last two seasons with the New York Rangers, as he often sat out for weeks at a time as a healthy scratch, Sabres newcomer Zac Jones said his thoughts would occasionally go to a bad place.
“There’s definitely things that pop into your mind,” the defenseman told the Times Herald following Friday’s practice in KeyBank Center, where the Sabres host a preseason game Saturday afternoon against the Detroit Red Wings.
Still, Jones, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Sabres on July 2, said he learned how to handle the adversity and become “a good pro.”
Not that he enjoyed being a spare part. Last season, after sitting out 21 of 24 games in the winter, including 18 straight, he requested a conditioning assignment to the AHL.
The Rangers obliged, assigning him to Hartford, where he played two games for the Wolf Pack in late February. When he returned, he enjoyed semi-regular duty for the Rangers, who endured a miserable season and missed the playoffs.
By then, however, Jones, 24, could see the writing on the wall. Following the season, the Rangers did not give him a qualifying offer, making him a free agent.
“Sometimes it’s just best to move on,” said Jones, who played 77 games in the last two years. “… It was for the best for both parties.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Jones offers the Sabres an intriguing talent. At his best, he said he’s a “good puck-moving defenseman” who “can contribute some offense.”
“I like to use my feet a lot,” he said. “When I’m skating and I’m moving, I think I can create a lot of things with the puck.”
Early in training camp, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said Jones “always makes the right play.”
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Jones, who played two seasons at the University of Massachusetts and won a national championship in 2021, possesses “offensive flair.”
“He’s pretty good at hanging onto the puck and making that next play, trying to get involved,” he said. “I think that’s probably what’s got him to this point. Again, you can be good offensively, you still have to be able to defend. I think that’s part of the game he has to continue to work at.”
Right now, it’s unclear where Jones will play this season. The Sabres have a surfeit of defensemen. The six regular spots have been filled for months.
“We got eight, nine guys that can do pretty much everything out there,” Jones said. “I mean, we have a really, really good blue line.”
Jones and Jacob Bryson likely slot in as the seventh or eighth defenders. But if the Sabres keep just one extra, Jones could be the odd man out.
If they waive him, he could be an enticing option for a team looking to boost its depth.
Jones, whose contract is worth $900,000 in the NHL and $550,000 in the minors, according to Puckpedia.com, said he chose the Sabres because they offered him the best chance to play.
“No matter what role it is,” he said. “Buffalo seemed very interested in me during the free agency time I had and seemed excited to get me, so that’s what drew me here.”
Jones experienced a unique journey to the NHL. He’s the first native of Richmond, Virginia, to make it to the big leagues.
“It’s cool to be known as that, in a sense,” he said. “I try to be just keep proving to everybody and trying to prove to people back home in Richmond that you can make it from anywhere.”
His father, Rob, worked as an athletic trainer and equipment manager in pro hockey for more than a decade. After his time with the Richmond Renegades, an old ECHL team, his family stayed in the city.
What’s the hockey scene like in Richmond?
“There isn’t a ton of it, to say the least,” he said. “The 2000 birth year, we had a team, and we were pretty good up until we were about 14, and then everybody kind of split off and did their own thing.”
Jones chose to attend prep school at South Kent in Connecticut. As an undersized teenager, colleges hadn’t shown much interest in him until UMass recruited him.
“The coaching staff, for sure, they really showed a belief in me, and that was something that I hadn’t really experienced up to that point,” he said. “So it was nice to experience that.”