TAMPA, Fla. — Head coach Peter Laviolette has treated Zac Jones like the soldier he’s been for the Rangers all season long.
Despite acquiring a new contender for the seventh defenseman role before the trade deadline in Chad Ruhwedel, Laviolette still turned to Jones as his next man up when captain Jacob Trouba was projected to miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury.
The Rangers will no doubt want to get a look at Ruhwedel eventually.
For now, Laviolette has shown some loyalty to Jones for his attitude and contributions as a depth piece this entire season.
“Obviously, got to prove him right,” Zac Jones told The Post before the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to the Lightning. “That’s the biggest thing, is just keep going out there, do my thing and then keep proving him right.”
Jones has strung together three strong games on the left of Erik Gustafsson on the Rangers’ bottom pairing entering Thursday night’s matchup with the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
The two have been an effective puck-moving tandem, as well as responsible in their own end and fast through the neutral zone.
Over a month had gone by between Jones’ last appearance and the start of this four-game stretch. It may have been the longest stretch he had gone without game action, but Jones has been operating under such circumstances all season long.
The 23-year-old’s longest stretch of games this season was when Adam Fox was on injured reserve for 10 games in November.
“He was out for a good majority of the games, worked his tail off every game, every practice, every day,” Laviolette said of his reasoning behind sticking with Jones. “Real positive attitude. The last games that we played him in, prior to him jumping back in the lineup, he was excellent. I think he had a [two]-point night [in Ottawa on Jan. 27], he was plus-four, he played extremely well. He really didn’t deserve to come out of the lineup, but he did. Those are decisions that you have to make sometimes.
“He’s gotten an opportunity to jump back in. He’s waited, he’s been patient, worked hard to get the opportunity and he’s jumped back in and he’s played excellent again. So for a guy that’s been here the entire year, and the way our team has played in the last three or four games, we haven’t made a lineup change yet.”
Signed through next season at $812,500, Jones has adapted his mindset and approach to serving as the seventh defenseman.
After bouncing in and out of the lineup last year, the UMass product struggled a bit with the role and was ultimately sent to AHL Hartford in early December for the remainder of the regular season.
The shift has reflected in Jones’ play this season.
He’s not only posted a goal and five assists through 20 games, but Jones has also largely been defensively sound and continues to grow more comfortable at the NHL level.
“When you watch the games, you pick up on little things that guys are doing,” Jones said. “So, I mean, I’ve been obviously watching a lot of games this year and watching guys like Foxy, [K’Andre Miller], all of our D here and we’ve got six terrific D in front of me. You pick up on some things and I guess it does slow down a little bit. Just trying to go out there and do my thing and not really worry about anything else.”