A lot can happen in two years. Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 2021-22 season was an interesting one for the Flyers. Club legend Claude Giroux was traded for a package that included Owen Tippett, Oskar Lindblom played his last season in Philadelphia, and the Flyers rolled out a total of 39 different skaters, including Ryan Ellis. One player that showed up in and left Philly as fast as Keith Yandle? Former Flyers goalie Martin Jones is now helping the Toronto Maple Leafs avert disaster.
Jones lasted only a short time with the Flyers, spending only the 2021-22 season with the team before ending up with the Seattle Kraken last season. In his lone campaign with Philadelphia, Jones went 12-18-3 with a .900 save percentage and 3.42 GAA while in a timeshare with Carter Hart. Despite going 27-13-3 for the Kraken last year, Jones’s individual numbers weren’t much better. The 34-year-old posted a paltry .886 save percentage, a modestly improved 2.99 GAA, and three shutouts across 48 appearances out west.
Martin Jones Gets Mulligan
The former Flyers netminder did sign with the Maple Leafs on Aug. 4 but wasn’t able to make their NHL roster and was instead relegated to AHL duty with the Toronto Marlies. Before long, incumbent starter Ilya Samsonov turned into a pumpkin. With breakout star Joseph Woll landing on injured reserve, the Maple Leafs were left with no choice but to bring up Jones.
Before his call-up, Jones had a save percentage of just .870 in his five AHL appearances. Sometimes, all a player needs is an opportunity – just look at Sam Ersson and the Flyers this season.
In 16 appearances with the Maple Leafs, Jones has gone 9-5-1 with a 2.40 GAA and a .920 save percentage to pair with two shutouts. In fact, there was a four-game stretch where the journeyman locked down the fort, stopping 103 of 106 shots (.971 SV%) and winning all four games for Toronto, including a shutout effort against his former Los Angeles Kings. Per Moneypuck, Jones is currently eighth in the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expected with 10.4. For reference, Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, and Carter Hart are 26th, 30th, and 33rd in the league, respectively.
This is not to say the Flyers made some kind of mistake by not bringing Jones back to Philly, but hockey has a funny way of doing things sometimes. The Flyers started eight different goalies in the 2018-19 season, so they know better than most about how goalies are voodoo.
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