TORONTO — We’re now deep into hockey’s first full summer in years, and Brad Treliving refuses to slip into vacation mode.
The general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs bolstered his club’s goaltending depth Wednesday, signing veteran Martin Jones to a no-risk, one-year, $875,000 contract.
For our money — and, evidently, the Leafs’ — Jones was the best battle-tested NHL netminder still lingering on the open market more than a month after free agency’s opening. And the 33-year-old arrives in Toronto (his fifth big-league city and fourth in the past four seasons) with a humbling pay cut, 444 regular-season games plus 60 playoff starts’ worth of experience, and plenty to prove.
With a Stanley Cup ring (he was the 2014 champion Los Angeles Kings’ backup) and a gold medal (2015 world championships) in the stash, the North Vancouver native will check into camp as the most accomplished of the Leafs goalies — and with the same number of wins as starter Ilya Samsonov (27) in 2022-23.
Yet despite his winning record in the Seattle Kraken’s first playoff campaign (27-13-3), Jones’s other metrics (a career-worst .886 save percentage and worrisome minus-21.4 goals saved above average) allowed Seattle GM Ron Francis to feel comfortable letting him walk.
Jones should slot in behind prized prospect Joseph Woll as Toronto’s third option in the crease, filling the pads of past short-term security options like Aaron Dell, David Rittich, and Michael Hutchinson.
Third-string goaltender is a position that doesn’t matter much until suddenly it does. And with Matt Murray heading toward LTIR indefinitely and former next-man-up Erik Källgren signing with the New Jersey Devils, Treliving has secured a cap-friendly professional who can comfortably eat up starts if/when need be.
The upside for Jones here is twofold.
Playing for the AHL Marlies gives him access to one of the most robust NHL training and development staffs and geographically makes for easy callups.
Moreover, the younger Samsonov, 26, and Woll, 25, have a history of injury, so the likelihood of Jones seeing action for the Maple Leafs is strong. Hot goalies keep the crease.
While Woll’s future is bright and Samsonov just wrapped the best season of his NHL life, neither has started so much as half of a full 82-game campaign. (Samsonov recorded a career-best 40 starts in 2022-23 and outduelled Andrei Vasilevskiy in Round 1, but a neck injury prevented him from suiting up late in Round 2.)
Jones has started the majority of his team’s games on five occasions, most recently last season with Seattle (42 starts).
The best ability, some say, is availability.
Have Jones’s best days in a mask passed by? Probably.
But as the 82nd-most-expensive goalie in the NHL (Jones now shares a cap hit with Rittich and Erik Portillo), he could provide valuable insurance for Samsonov and alleviate some pressure on Woll to make a giant leap to established NHL goaltender after just 11 scattered appearances.
Woll’s heaviest workload during his first four years as a professional (pandemic noted): 32 games.
“Joe, the young guy, he finished off well,” Treliving said at the Nashville draft in June. “I’ve learned sometimes those young guys that finish off well, it doesn’t necessarily mean the start is going to be well.”
Enter Jones: a no-risk signing and a reasonable insurance bet that could pay off for all involved.
