Jones was picked in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. That round does not exist anymore (the draft has since been reduced from nine rounds to seven), but Jones is still going strong.

Selected at No. 288, Jones has had a long NHL career thanks to his versatility.

The forward, born in Guelph, Ontario, played three seasons with Coquitlam of the British Columbia Hockey League before attending Dartmouth, where he played three seasons. In his last season with the Big Green, Jones scored 18 goals and 44 points in 33 games, was named Ivy League Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

Jones turned pro for the 2007-08 season, playing with Lake Erie of the American Hockey League, where he had 14 goals and 30 points in 45 games, and getting a series of call-ups to the Avalanche. In 27 games with Colorado, Jones scored two goals and six points.

After averaging 8:58 of ice time over his first 10 games in 2007-08, Jones averaged 12:46 over the final 17 regular-season games and played in each of Colorado's 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

A shoulder injury cost Jones the second half of his 2008-09 season and, after scoring 10 goals and 16 points in 23 games to start 2009-10, Jones sustained a season-ending knee injury.

Jones remained mostly healthy for the 2010-11 season, the first of two straight 20-goal seasons. After Jones had three goals and nine points in 33 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13, the Avalanche traded him and Shane O'Brien on June 27, 2013 to the Calgary Flames for Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich.

Jones' best season with the Flames came in 2014-15, when he scored 14 goals and 30 points in 67 games while helping the Flames reach the second round of the playoffs. Late in the 2015-16 season, Calgary sent Jones and his expiring contract to the Minnesota Wild in a trade for goaltender Niklas Backstrom and a sixth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.