Rumor: The Sharks May Buyout This Goalie

 

Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks is a serious buyout candidate, according to Frank Seravalli. It is quite easy to determine why, as the veteran goalie has struggled significantly over the last three seasons. In each of them, he put up an .896 save percentage, which is extremely low for a starting goalie. In fact, that statistic is even worse than the majority of NHL backup goalies. 

When looking at Jones' contract, it is also a serious problem for the Sharks. He has three more years left and it carries a $5.75 million cap hit. That is just far too much term and money for a goalie who is no longer producing at the same level he once had. 

The Sharks have become notorious for their plethora of bad contracts, too. For a team who is looking to become competitive again, they have a lot working against them because of this. With their 21-28-7 record this season, it is clear that Jones is not working out as their starter. He is the easiest of the bad contracts to get rid of, so now seems like the perfect time for a buyout. They would receive about $3.75 million of cap space by doing this.

There are also a ton of free agent goalie options for the Sharks heading into this off-season. Some of these include Jaroslav Halak, Chris Driedger, Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer. There are many more available, too, and they would all be upgrades over Jones at this juncture.

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