Panthers’ Seth Jones leaves game against Rangers with upper-body injury

The Florida Panthers announced on social media that defenseman Seth Jones left Friday’s game against the New York Rangers with an upper-body injury.

The injury occurred in the first period after a deflected shot in the Panthers’ zone hit Jones in the neck area. He would leave the ice and not return.

The game, which was this year’s 2026 NHL Winter Classic, was also the 900th regular-season contest of Jones’ NHL career. He finished the night with 3:00 of ice time on three shifts.

The 31-year-old Jones leads all Florida defenders in every offensive category with six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 40 games. Now in his 13th NHL season, Jones has 105 goals and 360 assists for 465 points in 900 career regular-season games with Florida, the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators.

He’s also played in 60 career playoff games, where he’s recorded nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points. Jones was part of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship last season, where he scored four goals and five assists for nine points. It was the first Stanley Cup of his career.

Jones, taken No. 4 overall by the Predators in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, played one year of junior in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winter Hawks. He scored 14 goals and 42 assists for 56 points in 61 games. He helped the team win the WHL Championship, where he produced five goals and 10 assists for 15 points.

Going into Friday night’s game, the Panthers were 21-15-3 with 45 points in 39 regular-season games. They were fifth in the Atlantic Division and one point back of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.