The goaltending carousel continues today, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that Martin Jones will be bought out by the San Jose Sharks. The veteran goaltender will be placed on unconditional waivers today as the first buyout window comes to a close. With three years left on his current deal, San Jose will now be forced to carry a buyout penalty through the 2026-27 season. Those penalties will be:
- 2021-22: $1,916,667
- 2022-23: $2,416,667
- 2023-24: $2,916,667
- 2024-25: $1,666,667
- 2025-26: $1,666,667
- 2026-27: $1,666,667
Jones, 31, has been one of the worst starting goaltenders in the league over the last three seasons, posting an .896 save percentage in each campaign. Despite that poor performance, he’s still received 135 starts from the Sharks and incredibly has a winning record at 68-53-11. Even this season, despite the Sharks finishing seven games below .500, Jones still went 15-13-4. It’s entirely reasonable to suggest that the team wouldn’t be in the troubling situation they are with better goaltending, and they’ll finally get to test that theory by moving on from Jones.
The Sharks brought in Adin Hill just before the expansion draft and could hand him the reins, though bringing in another veteran goaltender to share the load is likely. Hill also needs to be signed, as he currently is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The 25-year-old netminder has just 49 games of NHL experience under his belt, though has posted a .915 save percentage over the last two seasons, a significant upgrade from the performance that Jones was providing.
What Jones’ market in free agency will look like is anyone’s guess, given how poorly he has played for the last three seasons. With so much money still being paid out by the Sharks, a short-term low-cost contract as a tandem or backup could be his best scenario to prove he can still play at the NHL level.
Vancouver kid. Would he take a big discount?
League minimum seems to be his ceiling, so are you asking if he’d do an AHL contract?
For Abbotsford!
I, for one, hope that Jones’ declining production was more due to the team in front of him, rather than the possibility of being impacted by the dreaded “C-word.”
C*nt ?
@C.K.Rebel – Close, but no cee-gar! Keep “guessing”, the clock hasn’t struck midnight, yet… :)
“C” is for COOKIE!!!!
@The Mistake of Giving Eugene Melnyk a Liver Transplant – You may be the one to put the Doomsday Clock in fast-forward at this rate! Martin Jones, always looking for his shot at the goalie goal with the opposition’s netminder pulled, or sending one up the boards for Pickles’ ENG freebie! If the next guess isn’t better, we’ll get you fitted for one of those conical hats and a monogrammed chair in the corner of the classroom. :)
What is…. confidence (for $100)
KAR 120C – The ability to scream, in public and at the top of your lungs, “I am NOT a number, I am a FREE man!” :)
Fire Doug Wilson already …. It is not like there is no better options out there …why keep him for that long ….
Another terrible long term contract from DOUG WILSON!!! Oh and he gave up a first round pick to get Jones in the first place. This guy throws away more 1st and 2nd round picks. Horrible GM!! FIRE DOUG WILSON!!! Oh and fire DOUGY JR. while at it.
The contract was terrible, yes, but getting to our first Stanley Cup and actually lasting 6 games against Pittsburgh doesn’t happen without Jones.
Plus, I don’t think that draft pick turned into anything, so it worked out for the Sharks initially
Why buy him out and saddle yourself with that for 6 when you’re a rebuilding team without a hope in hell of competing
One thing I wish the article would have highlighted was how much cash this frees up to add a player. I mean they aren’t just doing it to free up a roster spot.
And if you are going to fire Doug Wilson, you don’t fire him over this deal. The Erik Karlsson deal is FAR worse!
He was a 5.25mil AAV. They gave you the cap hit by year. Subtract that from 5.25