FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Seth Jones left his winter parka in Chicago.

“I don’t need it,’’ he said.

The Florida Panthers scratched defense off their midseason shopping list.

“We got just what we wanted,’’ president of hockey operations Bill Zito said of Jones.

Now the question becomes a simple but complicated one are this trade: Are they done? Are the champs adding another player or two for a repeat run?

Zito confirmed Monday that star forward Matthew Tkachuk was put on long-term injury reserve with a lower-body injury suffered in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. That means the Panthers have about $8.7 million in salary-cap money to spend if Tkachuk doesn’t return until the playoffs.

“We have space,’’ Zito said. “Matthew is going to be out for an extended period of time, and, we hope to get him back for the playoffs.’’

With Jones on board, there’s no pressing need beyond depth as the Panthers make the stretch run if Tkachuk returns for the playoffs, as the team has said it expects.

The best guess about what Zito might add is what he added before the last playoffs in adding scoring insurance like Vladimir Tarasenko and a fourth-line veteran hungry for a Stanley Cup in former Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo.

The larger point is the Panthers can spend this money and have Tkachuk back for the playoffs without any salary-cap implications, because there is no salary cap in the playoffs. Go figure, huh?

Those are hockey’s rules, though, and rivals like Tampa Bay and the Vegas Knights have used it to their benefit in recent years. Why wouldn’t the Panthers now?

They already filled the unsteady part of their lineup by getting Jones. They didn’t just get a five-time All-Star, a 30-year-veteran, the kind of player who can play big minutes on defense and will take some of the temporary sting out of losing Tkachuk for the regular season.

They got the right star, too.

That’s often missed as teams take swings at veteran players. The Heat missed in an expensive way when trading last season for Terry Rozier. The Dolphins had to reshuffle their salary structure and change their window to win by bringing on receiver Tyreek Hill, edge rusher Bradley Chubb and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

The Panthers have done the improbable by finding good veterans in bad situations who fit their need perfectly. Tkachuk and Sam Bennett came from Calgary. Sam Reinhart from Buffalo. Carter Verhaeghe from Tampa Bay.

Add Jones to the list in coming from a dismal Chicago team. At 6-foot-4, he was paired with 6-6 Niko Mikkola in a Monday morning practice to create possibly the biggest defense pairing in Panthers history. That’s a bonus, considering he’s a veteran who’s been around the rink enough to know the Panthers’ style.

“It’s just in your face, aggressive forechecking — the defense, everything, the forwards always have your back,” Jones said. “We don’t’ want to give up anything off the rush, and they don’t really. Things are corrected right away.

“I think that’s how you have to play. Taking space away, that’s what this team is good at. The forwards are big, they’re strong, they’re physical — they’re super-skilled, but the skill comes out after the work.

“That’s a brand of hockey that works in the playoffs, that works when teams are meaningful, because it’s hard to play against,” Jones continued. “They grind you down, game after game, especially in the playoffs. I hope I can add to that.”

The best part for the Panthers is he’s not a rental. He has five years left on a contract they’ll pay $7 million for annually (Chicago picked up $2.5 million annually). That slots into the Panthers’ contract structure, too, though there’s a question of what it means for unsigned Aaron Ekblad.

You make this trade every time if you’re the Panthers, even at the cost of 23-year-old goalie Spencer Knight. The Panthers’ time to win is here — “That’s the window we’re in,” as coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re clearly in a ‘now’ phase, right? Our best players are in that 27 through 30 age.”

Knight fits with a younger, rebuilding Chicago. That’s why both teams signed off on the trade. Well, that and Jones asked out of Chicago.

“I wanted to play in playoff hockey,’’ he said.

It’s coming again. And, again, the Panthers look loaded up if Tkachuk rejoins the party.

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