SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Zac Jones of the Rochester Americans is the winner of the Eddie Shore Award 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.
Jones led all defensemen with 62 points in 60 games while becoming just the second blueliner in the AHL’s 90-year history to lead the league in assists (52) for a season, following Nova Scotia’s Craig Levie in 1980-81. Jones’ 36 assists on the man advantage were the most by an AHL defender in 20 years and contributed to the Amerks’ fourth-ranked power play, and he led all league defensemen with 168 shots on goal. He was voted a First Team AHL All-Star for 2025-26, and represented the Americans at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic in February.
Jones is the fourth Amerks player to win the Eddie Shore Award, joining Steve Kraftcheck (1959), Al Arbour (1965) and Zach Redmond (2019).
A fifth-year pro, Jones was originally selected by the New York Rangers in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft before joining the Buffalo Sabres organization as a free-agent signing on July 2, 2025. The Glen Allen, Va., native and UMass-Amherst product has collected 28 goals and 101 assists for 129 points in 168 career AHL contests, along with four goals and 24 assists in 115 games in the NHL.
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)
In operation since 1936 and celebrating its 90th-anniversary season this year, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The winner of the 2025-26 Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award (outstanding goaltender) will be announced Wednesday.