With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason after a brief return to the postseason, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 53 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.
Starting with veteran Noel Acciari and going on through to prospect Bill Zonnon, every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.
This series is scheduled to be published every day until June 24, two days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)
Caleb Jones
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 28
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 184 pounds
2025-26 NHL regular season statistics: Seven games, one point (zero goals, one assist), 7:39 of average ice time per contest
2025-26 AHL regular season statistics: One game, zero points (zero goals, zero assists)
Contract: In the first year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $900,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2028
Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2025
This season: Penguins management didn’t splurge a great deal during the 2025 offseason on free agents. The team mostly patched up holes in the lineup here and there with some frugal acquisitions.
One area of the roster that did receive a degree of focus was the left side of the blue line, which Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas specified as lacking.
And while Dubas did not break the bank with any of his offseason acquisitions, he did break a few rolls of pennies on the port side of the defense.
Three free agent left-handed defensemen were signed in Alex Alexeyev, Caleb Jones and Parker Wotherspoon.
Wotherspoon, a journeyman, was by far the best of the bunch as he wound up spending nearly the entire season on the top pairing.
Alexeyev, a former first-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals, essentially spent the entire season in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
As for Jones, who had the most NHL service time of the trio, he simply lost almost an entire season.
Things certainly started out well for Jones as he was in the lineup for seven of the team’s first eight games of the season. And that stretch was highly successful for the club, which opened the season with an 8-2-2 mark.
Primarily stationed on the left side of the third pairing with rookie right-hander Harrison Brunicke, Jones offered a fairly steady, albeit unspectacular game. He even offered something on the penalty kill, averaging 1:28 of short-handed ice time per contest.
Jones’ only recordable offense on the season came during a 6-1 home loss to the New York Rangers on Oct. 11 when he tallied the lone assist on rookie forward Ben Kindel’s first career goal. Jones was credited with the helper after he broke up a pass attempt by the Rangers in the neutral zone.
Ben Kindel – Pittsburgh Penguins (1) pic.twitter.com/BTTK8yQmPx
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 12, 2025
Things came to an immediate halt Oct. 23 during a 5-3 road win against the Florida Panthers when Jones was tripped up by Panthers forward Brad Marchand and suffered a suspected left foot injury that landed him on injured reserve.
Sporting a protective boot for much of his recovery, Jones did not resume skating with teammates until mid-January. By Jan. 12, Jones was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for conditioning purposes but was injured in his first games with the AHL affiliate, suffering a right shoulder ailment during a 4-1 road win against the Providence Bruins on Jan. 14.
Then things got worse.
On Feb. 4, the NHL announced Jones was suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. In a statement, Jones indicated he believed he was exposed to “contaminated substance associated with that treatment” during his rehabilitation.
Any thoughts that Jones would be able to return to the ice once his suspension was completed were euthanized April 3 when the team announced he would undergo surgery for his ailing shoulder. A timeline of four to six months was offered for his recovery.
The future: Assuming Jones, who turns 29 on June 6, is healthy by the time training camp convenes in September — which is hardly a guarantee — he will be facing some long odds to be a regular part of the lineup as was the case to open 2024-25.
Wotherspoon appears to be entrenched in the top pairing, while left-handed defenseman Sam Girard, added in a mid-season trade, is seen as a significant part of the club’s future. And prominent defensive prospect, Owen Pickering, another left-hander, appeared to take a step forward in his development this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Further, rookie left-handed defenseman Ilya Solovyov even showed some promise as a reserve after joining the club following a January trade.
(In contrast, left-handed blueliner Ryan Shea appears to be a good bet to sign elsewhere — or at least reach July 1 as an unrestricted free agent — following a career season.)
Long story short, things look to be rough for Jones for a variety of reasons entering 2026-27 after a lost season.