That Jones has been getting the usage he gets while delivering underwhelming results and being outplayed by teammates should serve as an indictment of Tortorella and Columbus, though. Not as proof of Jones' value.
Not unlike Provorov here.
No, it's an indicator that even really good players can't do everything on their own. Guys like Victor Hedman or Alex Pietrangelo that can carry a pair on their own with significantly inferior partners are rare in this league.
Provorov for example has constantly been asked to do too much because there isn't enough talent around him on the Flyers defense. He's been asked to play 25 mins a night, carry a pair, be the offensive and defensive guy on the pair, play top pair unit which doesn't suit his skillset, etc. This has taken place under two coaches and an interim coach, so it's not like it's just one coach who has a blind spot for him. He is clearly their best defenseman and constantly put in bad situations because the rest of the options can't hack it. You can also tell by the way he plays sometimes that he feels like he has to do too much as a result which doesn't help. Keep in mind that the one year Provorov had even a good partner in Niskanen was his best season. They missed Niskanen and he was a good player for the Flyers but let's not act like he was a norris caliber defenseman carrying Provorov.
Either way, all of that is an indictment of the rest of the Flyers defense a hell of a lot more than on Provorov. This is is the kind of nuance, common sense, and context that all of the fancy numbers and charts in the world will never capture.
As for Jones, if Torts thought Werenski and Savard were better, he wouldn't have played Jones more, that's just common sense. Doesn't mean he's right or wrong but that's clearly what he thought and he's been a very good and successful coach in this league for many years.
