Okay.
I dont agree with this at all but thanks for explaining it a little.
Jones has played enough NHL games to show that he is an NHL dman now and that he has top 4 potential. The same cant be said for any of the dmen you mentioned with the possible exception of Bouchard.
Persson might be also be close to being an NHL player (because he is so much older than the rest of that group) but 1 pre-season game against AHL players is hardly enough info.
Jones is a better NHL dman than Bear right now and has more potential (yes I know one is LH and one is RH).
They are exactly the same age and Bear looks to me like a possible PP specialist who might be able to play the bottom pairing one day.
Laggesson, Samorukov and Broberg are years away from being in the NHL.
So no...Jones doesnt make the most sense to trade of the young prospects IMO.
In any event you trade Russell long before you talk about trading a player like Jones.
To each their own but... wow are you overrating Jones.
To say Jones struggled in his nhl when moved up the line up is putting it mildly.
Jones and Bear both played well in a sheltered role in the nhl for a brief stint.
Teddy Peckham looked as good as Jones did in their respective sheltered debuts. Jones "might" just end up like him where a brief decent stint is all they manage.
Obviously Jones is a much better prospect than Teddy was but my point stands. Right now all Jones has proven is that he can be a sheltered #6.
Russell, for all his warts, is a much better defenseman than Jones is or may well ever be.
And yes Jones does make the most sense to trade because we are so deep on LD it's ridiculous. Right now Jones has very little value anyways. A sweetener at best.