4 Toronto Maple Leafs That Shouldn’t Be on the Playoff Roster

4 Toronto Maple Leafs That Shouldn’t Be on the Playoff Roster

Martin Jones

Martin Jones shouldn't play in the playoffs, and if he finds himself in net, it means that both Woll and Samsonov are struggling or injured.

It's bad news, essentially.

During the anxious time when the Leafs had a huge dilemma in net on their hands with Joseph Woll sidelined indefinitely due to a high ankle sprain and Ilya Samsonov struggling mightily with his play that saw him waived and sent to the minors, it was 11-year NHL veteran Martin Jones who stepped in marvellously to hold down the fort for the Leafs to prevent their season from spiralling into oblivion.

The Leafs had a West Coast Trip and those can be deadly, even when Anaheim and San Jose are bad, but Martin Jones came through and kept the season alive.

During the key stretch from the beginning of December to the beginning of January, Jones went a stellar 8-3-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .934 save percentage, showing glimpses of his dominant form back during his prime years with the San Jose Sharks.

However, perhaps fatigue ultimately caught up to him, as he would have a string of sub-par games following that stretch, eventually giving way back to a revitalized Samsonov, who hasn’t given up the net ever since.

Since February 22, Jones has only seen one game of action, and that was only for three minutes against the Edmonton Oilers on March 23.

As a result, with his limited usage down the stretch, Jones will likely not be seen in the playoffs despite playing a key role in saving the Leafs season when they needed him the most.

The only chance he would get into any game action at all is if both Samsonov and Woll end up struggling mightily at the same time, or if either of them suffers an ailment, which hopefully won’t happen or else the Leafs would be in major trouble.