Seth Jones reaches huge milestone in the Winter Classic spotlight

Friday's outdoor showcase will be Jones' 900th NHL game.

That number matters because Jones has never been a bit-part player. Drafted fourth overall in 2013, he has lived in hard minutes, matchup shifts, and the kind of nights where your legs feel like cement.

He's also producing, not just surviving. In 39 games this season, Jones has six goals and 24 points, which is exactly why Florida trusts him to start breakouts and still get pucks through traffic.

Now he gets the rare backdrop, Panthers vs Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami on Friday. It's Florida's first outdoor NHL game, and it's the southernmost outdoor game in league history.

The coolest part is how personal it feels for a defenseman who usually stays faceless. A milestone game in a ballpark forces even a stay-at-home type to take a second and look around.

As a Panthers fan, I'm pumped for Jones, but I still want the two points more than the souvenir.

There's another layer too, Jones was officially named to Team USA's Olympic roster on Friday, which turns this week into a spotlight stretch. When you're playing huge minutes, every extra event feels like one more test on the body.

Still, this is the good kind of pressure, the kind that sharpens habits. If Jones is crisp on retrievals and clean on exits, Florida's whole game settles, and that matters in a tight Eastern race.

Game 900 should be celebrated, but it's also a reminder, the Panthers are leaning on him for everything that comes next. Miami is the stage, but the milestone is really about what Jones does after the fireworks fade.