Jones ready to relax, prepare for testing

Seth Jones is a defenseman for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder has solid athletic bloodlines -- his father, Popeye Jones, played 11 seasons in the NBA. The top-ranked player in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2013 NHL Draft, Jones was named the best professional prospect in the WHL, and helped the United States win the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championship. Jones has offered to maintain a monthly blog for NHL.com that will chronicle his season leading up to the 2013 NHL Draft.

Hello again from Toronto. Things have been going real well up here. I had about 10 more meetings today. It's pretty exciting. I had Tampa Bay today and I got the chance to meet Steve Yzerman, which is pretty cool.

I also met with Colorado today. I'm not sure who was in the room. I guess Patrick Roy came in today but I didn't get to meet him. Colorado really didn't treat me any different. I talked to a lot of other guys that went in with them and they pretty much asked the same questions -- if I think I'm NHL-ready, what can I bring to the team next year -- that sort of thing.

After the meetings I had an event to announce I signed an endorsement deal with CCM-Reebok. They've been great to me. I finally got it finalized tonight. It feels good to be in a family with a lot of great players -- Carey Price, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. So it's pretty cool to do that. They have a lot of young guys with Jonathan Huberdeau and Alex Galchenyuk, also. Definitely feels like a big family. The gear is awesome. I switched last summer and I've loved it ever since. I don't see myself going to another brand.

We announced the deal with Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. They're both great players. I've had the chance to play with them and against them a couple times. It's pretty cool sharing some of the same experiences as your friends.

I'm just going to enjoy the night now. I've got the testing tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to it. From what I've heard it's pretty tough, they put you through a series of tests. I'm definitely going to be sweating at the end of them. I'm really looking forward to some of the tests. I've heard a lot about the bike tests, how difficult they are. I'm just going to go into it and do what I can.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back to let you all know how it goes.

Follow Seth Jones on Twitter: @seth_jones3