The Philadelphia Flyers Prove How Much They Believe In Carter Hart By Signing Martin Jones In Free Agency
Matthew Stockman. Getty Images.Martin Jones was great in 2015-16. He lead the San Jose Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final while playing in 65 regular season games, racking up 37 wins, and posting a sv% of .918. He was 14-10 in the playoffs that year with a .923 playoff sv%. He also had a really strong year the following season.
So yeah, Martin Jones was playing out of his mind about 4 years ago. But for the last 3 seasons? Well…um…well it just hasn't been working out for ol' Marty boy in San Jose. Granted, the team around him had gotten older and slower and worse. But he hasn't had a save percentage over 90% in either of the last 3 years. His production has fallen off a cliff and the Sharks ended up buying out the final 3 years of his contract.
And now he's on his way to be Carter Hart's backup in Philly. Which should tell you everything you need to know about how much faith the Flyers organization has in Carter having a bounceback year this season. Clearly they see Carter Hart being the type of guy who comes out and plays 60+ games this year with that completely retooled defense in front of him. Because if they don't see Carter Hart being that guy? Well then I don't know why they wouldn't have gone out there and grabbed a Braden Holtby or a Jaroslav Halak.
Can Martin Jones be a serviceable backup? I'm sure. I think he's at a point in his career where he needed to get out of San Jose and will benefit from a new role with a new team. But if there's any real reason to be excited about this signing as a Flyers fan, it's mostly for what it says about the way the team feels about Carter Hart.
Unless, of course, Martin Jones switches things up and starts to go by Marty Jones. Because then he'll be a Vezina candidate. Just something to consider.