His size, demeanour, calmness with the puck, smooth skating ability and powerful shot from the point are just a few of the attributes that have made Seth Jones a top 2013 National Hockey League draft prospect.
Whether you 鈥� like most prognosticators 鈥� have him slated first overall or among the top three, along with Halifax Mooseheads forwards Jonathan Drouin and Nathan McKinnon, Jones is an imposing player.
And he鈥檚 not concerned with where he sits in the rankings for this summer鈥檚 draft.
鈥淚鈥檓 taking it day-by-day and game-by-game,鈥� the Portland Winterhawks defenceman said after Sunday鈥檚 5-2 win over the Victoria Royals. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited for this summer, but I have a job to do first in Portland and that goal is to win a Memorial Cup.
鈥淭he priority right now is to be the best I can be here and it will carry itself over. You hear about it all the time, but I don鈥檛 keep a close eye on [the rankings].鈥�
Teams are certainly keeping an open eye on the 18-year-old son of former NBA player and current assistant coach Popeye Jones. Seth certainly stands at six-foot-four, 205 pounds, and still growing.
Opponents are also aware of his abilities.
鈥淗e sees the ice well,鈥� said Royals forward Logan Nelson, who had one of the goals in Sunday鈥檚 loss. 鈥淚 played with him at [U.S.] world junior camp and Portland is lucky to have him.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to do well for himself,鈥� added Nelson. 鈥淗is dad played in the NBA so he comes from an athletic line. He鈥檚 good with the puck, he can skate and he can play the physical game.鈥�
Fans saw all of those characteristics on Sunday and will do so again tonight at 7:05 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
Jones displayed that shot, ripping a long, hard wrister past Royals goaltender Coleman Vollrath to make it 3-0, a laser beam that found the top corner, in a hurry, for his 13th goal of the season to go with 41 assists. He is also a staggering plus-43 in the plus-minus department.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a big guy, shoots the puck well, skates well and he鈥檚 going to be a great player,鈥� Royals鈥� head coach Dave Lowry said of Jones.
鈥淗e skates well enough, he has poise with the puck, but the thing you can鈥檛 control is who drafts him, where they are with depth on their defence and how teams bring in their young players,鈥� added the 19-year NHLer. 鈥淚 know some organizations where their young guys start in the minors. For him it will depend on which team drafts him.鈥�
And Jones realizes that fact.
鈥淚t depends on the team and what they think. It鈥檚 obviously not my decision, but I鈥檓 obviously going to do whatever I can to play at that level,鈥� Jones said.
He definitely won鈥檛 be waiting long to hear his name called in New Jersey.
On Sunday, Chase De Leo had three goals, including an empty-netter, for Portland 鈥� which clinched first place overall in the WHL 鈥� on Sunday and linemates Taylor Leier and Oliver Bjorkstrand had four helpers and a goal and an assist, respectively, for the victors.
The defeat was Victoria鈥檚 12th in 13 games as they played their third straight game and fifth in six days, a gruelling schedule for a team that remains banged up.
鈥淔or us it鈥檚 a tough, tough schedule, but at the end of the day we can鈥檛 use that as a crutch,鈥� said Lowry. 鈥淚f anything, we鈥檙e going to use it as a method of preparation and understanding that come playoff time you鈥檙e going to be playing four games in five nights or five in seven nights.
鈥淔or us, going through it now and understanding how tough it is, it might be a blessing for us,鈥� added Lowry, whose team will begin the post-season in Kamloops on March 22 and 23. Tickets are on sale now for games in Victoria.
