Caleb Jones returns to practice
Defenseman eyeing Saturday’s game vs. his old team, the Edmonton Oilers, for his season debut
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Caleb Jones conceded it would be perfect timing if he could make his season debut against the Edmonton Oilers, the team that drafted him in 2015.
But it’s out his hands. Or more precisely, it’s up to his wrist.
“I’m not going to lie, it’d be nice to play in Edmonton. It’d be a fun one,” said Jones, who returned to practice Monday after a left wrist strain had kept him out since early October. “Especially it’d be kind of weird for my first game as a Blackhawk to be back there.”
“We’ll just play it by ear,” Hawks interim coach Derek King said. “I’m sure he’s going to definitely want to play against Edmonton, but we’ll just bring him in. He can take warmup against Seattle (on Wednesday) just to get him back with ‘how do you get dressed before a game’ kind of routine, and we’ll go from there.”
Jones practiced at Fifth Third Arena as the team prepared for a four-game trip to Seattle and Western Canada. The Oilers are the second opponent on Saturday.
“I’m taking it a day at a time,” Jones said. “I’ll go on the trip and keep practicing hard and working hard with the training staff. Whenever they want me back in, I think I’ll feel ready to go.”
The Hawks acquired Jones in the July trade that sent Duncan Keith to the Oilers, and Jones received a lot of buzz in training camp.
But he injured his wrist on a routine play during practice after the Hawks’ 6-4 preseason road win over the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 4.
“I was in the corner and I thought I just jammed my wrist, so I finished practice, went home, was icing it,” Jones said. “The next day, came in and showed the trainers what was going on. They tried to tape it and
they said if my tendon had stayed in place, I’d be OK.
“But it kept side-sliding out, so they said splint it and (sit for) four to six weeks.
The Hawks placed him on longterm injured reserve on Oct. 11. He began skating again last week.
While Jones was sidelined for five weeks, the Hawks got off to the worst start in franchise history (0-72).
“It was kind of a helpless feeling and you’re seeing everyone struggle and you want to be out there helping out too and you want to be in that battle with them,” he said. “It was a tough little month there.”
Jones’ brother, Seth, a fellow defenseman, was front and center for it all. Seth’s status as a high-profile offseason acquisition, coupled with a lucrative contract extension, made him a target for criticism as he shared in the team’s struggles.
“(Seth) liked to talk to me when things weren’t going well because we have a good relationship like that,” Jones said. “We would hang out on some off days and he would talk to me and express some frustrations he was having. I was able to tell him, ‘Just keep sticking with it and things will work out.’ ”
Ultimately, King replaced Jeremy Colliton as coach, and the interim bench boss has to learn about yet another somewhat unfamiliar face.
But Jones made quite an impression in practice Monday.
“He flies, so he’s going to help us big time,” King said.
“He looks like he’s in good shape,” defenseman Connor Murphy said. “We’re excited to see him back. He did so great in training camp and knew he was going to have a great start to the year.”
The 27-year-old Jones had five goals and 14 assists in 93 games across three seasons for the Oilers with a minus-17 rating. He’s champing at the bit to show his old team what he can do.
“This was a big year for me to come in and show I could be a really good NHL player,” Jones said. “In Edmonton, I had good spurts, but I never consistently was able to keep doing it.
“It was a tough blow for sure to hear that (injury happened), especially on a weird play in practice. But I kept my head on straight and kept working hard, and I know I’ll get another chance.”