Jones Named Eddie Shore Award Winner as AHL's Outstanding Defenseman
AHL Rochester Americans

Jones Named Eddie Shore Award Winner as AHL's Outstanding Defenseman

Published on April 21, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY) - The American Hockey League announced today that Zac Jones of the Rochester Americans has been named the Eddie Shore Award winner as the AHL's outstanding defenseman for the 2025-26 season.

The award was voted on by coaches, players, and members of the media representing each of the league's 32 cities.

Named a 2025-26 First Team AHL All-Star selection, Jones led the AHL with 52 assists while finishing as the league's top scoring blueliner with 62 points (10+52) in 60 games, including a pair of assists in Rochester's 5-4 overtime loss to the Hershey Bears in Sunday's regular-season finale, which secured the Amerks their fifth straight playoff berth. He also led all league defensemen with 168 shots on goal.

Jones is the just second defenseman ever in the 90-year history of the AHL to lead the league in assists, joining Nova Scotia's Craig Levie who was the first to do so in 1980-81, and he's also the first Amerks defenseman to reach the 60-point mark in a single season in nearly 20 years.

Jones finished 12 points ahead of the next closest defenseman, and his 36 power-play assists were also the most in the AHL this past season and the most by an AHL defender in 20 years, contributing to the Amerks' fourth-ranked power-play. He joins AHL Hall of Famer Steve Kraftcheck (1959), Hockey Hall of Famer Al Arbour (1965), and Zach Redmond (2019) as the only Amerks ever to receive the Eddie Shore Award.

Originally a third-round selection (68th overall) of the New York Rangers in the 2019 NHL Draft, Jones, who represented Rochester at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic in February, has amassed 129 points (28+101) in 168 career AHL games with Rochester and Hartford. He's also totaled 28 points (4+24) in 115 NHL appearances over parts of five seasons with the Rangers between 2020 and 2025.

Prior to turning pro, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound native of Richmond, Virginia played two seasons at UMass-Amherst, where he was an All Hockey East Second Team All-Star and First Team All-USCHO selection, a CCM/AHCA East Second Team All-American in addition to being named to Hockey East and NCAA All-Tournament Teams while also winning a National Championship with the Minutemen in 2020-21. As a freshman, he was named to both the Hockey East and College Hockey News' All-Rookie Teams after being the top scoring rookie defenseman in all of Hockey East with 23 points over 32 games.

Internationally, Jones has represented the United States on three occasions, most recently at the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Latvia, recording three assists in 10 games while helping the Americans to a bronze medal. He was also a member of Team USA at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship and won his only gold medal in 2018 at the World Junior A Challenge when he produced four points (1+3) in six games.

This award was first presented by the AHL in 1958-59 in honor of the late Eddie Shore, a member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the American Hockey League Hall of Fame who is widely regarded as one of hockey's greatest defensemen. Shore won a total of seven Calder Cups in his career, including two as the general manager of the Buffalo Bisons and five as the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians. Previous recipients of the Eddie Shore Award include Steve Kraftcheck (1959), Bob McCord (1961, '67), Al Arbour (1965), Jim Morrison (1966), Noel Price (1970, '72, '76), Brian Engblom (1977), Terry Murray (1978, '79), Dave Farrish (1982), Brad Shaw (1987), Dave Fenyves (1988, '89), Eric Weinrich (1990), Darren Rumble (1997), John Slaney (2001, '02), Niklas Kronwall (2005), Johnny Boychuk (2009), Mark Barberio (2012), Justin Schultz (2013), T.J. Brennan (2014, '16), Jake Bean (2020), Jordan Gross (2022), Christian Wolanin (2023), Kyle Capobianco (2024) and Jacob MacDonald (2025).

Season Ticket Memberships for the 2026-27 season, which start as low as $22 per game, are on sale now and come with several Members-only perks and benefits. Full and Half Season Membership options are also available. For more information on Amerks Season Tickets or to sign up today, call 585-454-5335 or visit www.amerks.com/memberships.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 21, 2026


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