Martin Jones is giving the Leafs much-needed stability in the crease

Picture this. It’s October 2023. The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to get their season underway, and I tell you that a Leafs goalie has a .926 save percentage (SV%) in January. You’d probably guess that it belongs to Ilya Samsonov. An understandable guess, given his performance last season, but no. Maybe it’s Joseph Woll, who had a .932 SV% in seven starts last season. Wrong again. 

The owner of that .926 SV% is none other than veteran goaltender Martin Jones, who signed a one-year contract with the Leafs in August 2023 at the league-minimum salary of $875,000.

While it’s fair to say that the Leafs inspired more confidence from the net heading into this season than they have in recent years, it’s always smart to stockpile depth at every position. Nobody has ever said “we have too much depth”, and if they have, it was probably said in a positive light. The events of the past month or so, between Joseph Woll’s injury and Ilya Samsonov’s well-documented struggles, have proven why signing players like Jones is so important. 

Let’s get one thing straight – general manager Brad Treliving didn’t sign Jones with the intention of having him steal one of Woll or Samsonov’s jobs, and it’s hard to believe he signed him with the intention of having him on the playoff roster. But, as we all know, intentions and results don’t always line up together. And not only has the Vancouver native played a pivotal part in keeping the Leafs afloat while they navigate through their goaltending issues, but he’s gotten himself into territory where the team would probably be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn’t stick with him as their backup goaltender going forward. 

I wrote yesterday that there might not be a clear path back to the NHL for Ilya Samsonov in Toronto, and as disappointing as his fall from grace has been, the alternative is a) banking on Jones making it through waivers a second time, and b) banking on Samsonov finding his game again, which is far away from the way he’s played this season. Once intended to be a veteran depth option should either NHL goalie go down with an injury, Jones is now looking like he deserves the backup job full-time from here on out.