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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed one of the top unrestricted free agent goaltenders left on the market, inking veteran Martin Jones to a one-year deal, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported on Wednesday.
“Leafs have signed free agent goaltender Martin Jones to a one-year, $875,000 deal,” wrote Seravalli. “Quality insurance.”
The 33-year-old spent the 2022-23 season with the Seattle Kraken, accumulating a 27-13-3 record with three shutouts in 48 regular-season games (42 starts) to help the second-year Kraken qualify for the playoffs.
The North Vancouver native has played in 444 regular-season games for the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers, Kraken, and now Maple Leafs. He put together his most wins in a season since 2018-19 last year.
In his career, Jones is 225-163-35 with a 2.70 GAA and .905 save percentage in the regular season. He is 32-27 with a 2.36 GAA, .917 save percentage and six shutouts in 63 postseason contests.
Jones backed up Jonathan Quick in 2014 when the Kings won their second Stanley Cup in three seasons, and helped the Sharks march all the way to the Finals in 2016, eventually losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
Although he's been up and down over the past few seasons, his three shutouts in 2022-23 prove that he can still perform, although what role he will have with the Leafs remains to be seen. Toronto will certainly be looking to Ilya Samsonov as the starter, with Justin Holl projected to back him up.
With Matt Murray going on LTIR, it makes sense to have a third goalie just in case, but it seems unlikely that Martin Jones will see too much work with his new team next year.
