Veteran goalie with more than 400 games of NHL experience about to land on waivers

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Mike Armenti
October 7, 2023 (11:49)

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The Maple Leafs are about to play their final pre-season game on Saturday in Detroit, which means that their final wave of cuts will happen in the coming days. With the team appearing to have settled on a goaltending tandem that consists of Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll, that leaves 3rd string netminder Martin Jones on the outside looking in and the most likely scenario being that he lands on waivers in the coming days.

Darren Dreger visited TSN 1050's First Up on Friday morning, discussing at length what he sees happening with Jones:

"I think Marty Jones goes on waivers right before the start of the regular season and Toronto really doesn't have a choice, do they? Martin Jones has been a good story for the Maple Leafs as well and you can see the stability that he provides. I'm a firm believer that it's going to be Samsonov and Joe Woll, although yes, it's pre-season games, there's no reason to inject any sort of negativity or controversy, but Samsonov needs to be better than he was last night. He was just off.

The three goalie rotation is far from perfect but when you're a cap team like the Toronto Maple Leafs it's a luxury that you can't afford, so the question is, do we think that Martin Jones is going to get claimed off waivers? I'm reminded that Toronto picked him up, was it in August? So it's not like there was this enormous market for him, but he's a nice piece to have given his experience and what he can provide, I think it's unlikely that he clears waivers. He might - we're going to find out."

Dreger mentioned that it's not just the Leafs who are in this type of a position. A team like the Montreal Canadiens also find themselves in a similar position with the likes of Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau all requiring waivers to be sent down. They could just as easily lose a netminder on waivers, unless they opt to run a 3-goaltender set in the NHL.

"Go around the National Hockey League and there's a number of teams that have that, same thing applies in Montreal. You got Allen, you got Montembeault - Cayden Primeau needs waivers - he's not clearing if they put him on waivers, so there's probably 7 or 8 scenarios where Tampa Bay could take a look or any other club that thinks that goalie on waivers can help them."

It goes without saying that the Leafs would love to be able to have Jones clear waivers and to retain him to maintain their goalie depth. However, it may just not be in the cards, as Dreger mentioned.