The Seattle Kraken, in need of proven goaltending at the NHL level, took a swipe at nine-year veteran Martin Jones, announcing on Wednesday they agreed to contract terms with the former Philadelphia Flyers netminder to a one-year deal worth two million.
Jones is expected to fill a sudden need at the backup position behind Philipp Grubauer, occupied last season by Chris Driedger but is expected to miss between the next six to eight months with knee surgery after sustaining an injury in the World Championships. The solution, according to Kraken general manager Ron Francis, fits two criteria.
"Experience and some size," said Francis.
Last season, Jones finished with a 12-18-3 record and .900 save percentage in 35 games behind Carter Hart, his only season in Philadelphia. But his best years came from a six-year run with the San Jose Sharks where he secured a career high 37 wins, a .918 save percentage and six shutouts in 2015-16 while helping the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup Final before falling in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Next year, Jones was an NHL All-Star, going 35-23-6 with a .912 save percentage.
He'll attempt to resuscitate his numbers under newly hired goaltending coach Steve Briere, whom Francis said had a role in the signing.
"We think bringing him in adds to our ability to make our goaltenders better," said Francis.
"We had Steve look at different videos on goaltenders, give us opinions, and he had a lot of time for Martin and the way he played."
Jones is 198-150-32 in 396 games for his NHL career with Philadelphia, San Jose, and Los Angeles.