Zac Jones: ‘I’m Rotting Away’ With Rangers

Zac Jones finally spoke about his true feelings regarding constantly getting scratched out of the New York Rangers’ lineup.

It’s been a long road for Jones as he can’t seem to find a consistent role with the Rangers.

Through his first couple of years with the organization, he was sent up and down from the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Starting last season he was with the team full time, but got scratched for a majority of the year as he played in just 31 games.

After finally finding a solidified spot in the lineup this season, the Rangers traded for Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen, which left Jones as the odd man out.

On Wednesday, the 24-year-old defenseman voiced his frustrations about the whole situation.

“It (expletive) sucks, it (expletive) sucks,” Jones told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. “It’s frustrating when you think you’re doing some things well, and it’s just, you just keep getting taken out, taken out, taken out. I just feel like I’m rotting away a little bit.”

This comes after Jones has been benched four out of New York’s last five games. Without playing, Jones believes there is no way for him to properly develop.

“I’m not a 32-year-old guy collecting a paycheck,” Jones said. “I’m a guy who wants to earn my paycheck. I need to play. I have things I need to improve in order to be a full-time player, and that’s what I want to be.”

Jones even quarterbacked the Rangers’ second unit of the power play at one point this season before his role seemed to dwindle away.

While Peter Laviolette didn’t guarantee him any playing time, he emphasized that Jones’ frustration is warranted.

“It's okay to be frustrated. I'm perfectly fine with that,” Laviolette said. “Everybody wants to play. You get to this level, everyone wants in. They want to play. And I'm okay with that.”

Jones has made his position very clear, so we’ll have to see how this all plays out.