3 Surprising Players That Will Make the Toronto Maple Leafs
By Edward Eng
Martin Jones
In the case for Martin Jones, he was signed initially by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the past offseason as goaltender insurance for both Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll, who are going to be the top two goaltenders for the team heading into the 2023-24 season.
Nevertheless, given Samsonov’s injury issues last season along with Woll’s inexperience so far in the NHL, Jones believed that there could still be an opportunity that can present itself down the road.
Jones has risen to the occasion with his stellar play so far during the preseason for the Leafs, as he has given up only four goals in three games with a strong .939 save percentage.
If he manages to keep up his impressive performance, the Leafs may have no choice but to roster three goalies to start the season.
That is because Samsonov, Woll, and Jones are all non-waiver exempt, so there would be no doubt that none of the three will be able to pass through waivers unclaimed.
Especially now that the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without their top goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy for a couple months to start the season, there is a high probability that they will be looking to the Leafs as a possible trade partner with their three quality goalies. (All stats from hockey-reference.com)
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But given that the next goalies in line in the organization are Dennis Hildeby and Kevin Petruzzelli, the Leafs will likely try their best to keep their three NHL-caliber goalies at their disposal by surprisingly including Jones on their Opening Night roster, even if it means carrying an unorthodox three goalies in their lineup.