Rangers' Zac Jones frustrated over being odd 'D'-man out

GREENBURGH — Zac Jones has been through this before, “many, many times,’’ he said, and he’s always handled himself with patience, grace, and class.

But it’s getting old.

“It's tough,’’ the 24-year-old defenseman told Newsday Wednesday about being relegated to the role of seventh defenseman for the Rangers. “It's really [expletive] tough. I mean, I'm just generally a pretty easygoing, happy person. And no matter what is going on in my life, I'm gonna try and come to the rink with a smile on my face . . . But it [expletive] sucks. Like, there’s nothing else I can say about it.’’

Asked if he will request a trade, now that coach Peter Laviolette seems to have settled on a top six that includes newcomers Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen along with regulars Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider, Jones suggested at some point he may.

“I'm just gonna have to talk to my agent, talk to my family, and . . . yeah, probably at some point have a conversation with [GM Chris] Drury or Laviolette and go from there,’’ he said. “I don't have a crystal ball to tell you exactly what I'm gonna do, but we'll see what happens.’’

When it was mentioned to Jones that two weeks ago, forward Kaapo Kakko was traded to Seattle the day after he complained about being scratched, he smiled.

“I was thinking about that when I was talking,’’ he said. “I'm not trying to pull a ‘Kaapo’ here.’’

Laviolette said he understands Jones’ frustration.

“You're frustrated and wanting to play. I would expect anybody that's out of the lineup would want to be in there,’’ the coach said. “The roster has changed on the back end. Different players bring in different things. That's the decision that we're at right now. It's OK to be frustrated. Everybody wants to play.’’

Jones, who has played in 26 of the Rangers’ 36 games, has one goal, seven assists and a plus/minus rating of +2. He had ascended to the role of point man on the second power-play unit before becoming a healthy scratch in four of the Rangers’ last five games. And when Miller returned to the lineup after an upper-body injury two games ago, Laviolette said: “We've got our full crew here on the back end.’’

That full crew did not include Jones, and right now, his prospects for getting back in the lineup don’t look promising. The Rangers play their first game of the new year Thursday at Madison Square Garden against Boston.

“We'll just go day by day,’’ Laviolette said. “We can only play six [defensemen] tomorrow. Pick those six, and we'll go from there.’’

A third-round pick by the Rangers in the 2019 draft, Jones has never been able to make himself a regular since turning pro right after winning an NCAA championship with UMass in 2021. He was the seventh defenseman last season and played a career-high 31 games, with two goals and seven assists and a plus-1 rating. And when the team let Erik Gustafsson leave as a free agent over the summer, it was assumed Jones would have a regular spot among the club’s top six defensemen.

But it hasn’t panned out that way.

Notes & quotes: Goaltender Jonathan Quick, who figures to start Thursday with Igor Shesterkin on IR with an upper-body injury, said he won’t change how he prepares now he that knows he likely will be the No. 1 goalie for the next week, at least. “No matter what the situation is, you go one game at a time, so that's the focus for the whole group,’’ Quick said. “And we're prepared for a really good team in Boston, and getting ready for that game.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.