“This style of play, us, Carolina, kind of the man-on-man all over the ice, it’s just a little bit different than what I played in the past, right? It took me a second last year to get really acclimated to it.”

Now Jones is comfortable and confident. Maurice said Jones has picked up where he left off in the playoffs in terms of intensity and is playing as well as he’s ever seen him play.

Jones is part of the third episode of “Road to the Discover NHL Winter Classic presented by Enterprise,” which premieres in the United States on Tuesday (3 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, HBO Max). Fans in Canada can watch it Thursday (2:30 p.m. ET; SN).

The Panthers host the New York Rangers in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami on Jan. 2 (8 p.m. ET; HBO Max, truTV, TNT, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS).

“It feels like I’ve been here forever,” Jones said. “It’s a great group of guys. The coaching staff did a hell of a job showing me video, a lot of video, when I first got here, how to play in the system.

“I see now how it really brings out the skills that I have and the way that I want to play and be aggressive every night. It all starts defensively, closing gaps, forcing other teams to make plays under pressure, and that’s where our team in general creates turnovers and creates offense.”

Jones has represented the United States multiple times but never in a best-on-best tournament.

He was invited to orientation camp before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but he was only 20 that season and didn’t make the U.S. roster. He played in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 but for Team North America, comprised of players 23-and-under from Canada and the United States. NHL players didn’t participate in the Olympics in 2018 and 2022, and he didn’t make the U.S. roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off last season.

Now NHL players are returning to the Olympics.

“It’s a big deal,” Jones said at orientation camp. “You’re playing for something more than yourself, right? That was kind of what ‘Billy’ and ‘Sully’ talked about [in a meeting]. An Olympic team that has success is a team that fills the roles properly. Not everyone’s going to play the power play. Not everyone’s going to play the penalty kill. Some guys are going to play more than others.”

Will Jones fill one of those roles?