With the fourth pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, the Nashville Predators selected defenseman Seth Jones from the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.
2013 NHL Draft: Predators select Seth Jones with No. 4 pick
Seth Jones joins an already impressive group of defensemen in Nashville after being taken fourth overall.
Jones -- the son of former NBA player and current assistant coach Popeye -- is coming off an excellent season which included a gold medal at the World Junior Championships and a runner-up spot with the Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup.
He helped the Hawks make it to the Final, where they lost to fellow top prospects Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and the Halifax Mooseheads. Jones finished the season with 56 points in 61 games from the blueline, and four points in five games at the Memorial Cup.
The Denver, Colorado native is ranked No. 1 by both the NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters and TSN's Craig Button among all prospects. He is ranked No. 2 by ISS among all skaters. ISS projects him to be a player in the style of St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Many scouting services have suggested that Jones needs to play more physical, but he should project to be a first pair defenseman with some offensive talent, regardless.
Here’s a profile of Jones from Jackets Cannon:
Overall, Jones combines the ability to move the puck, the ability to skate very well for a large defenseman, and the size and smarts to play shut-down defense. He also has a very dangerous shot from the point. He is one of the most complete defensemen to come into the draft in a long time. If he continues to develop, he can be a guy who plays top-pairing minutes, leads the PK, quarterbacks the PP, and wears a letter on his sweater in time.
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