San Jose Sharks: Martin Jones Pegged As Most Important Shark
Martin Jones has sure been in the spotlight this offseason, and that spotlight will only get brighter as the 2015-16 season approaches.
For those that have been in hiding or on vacation all summer, Jones is now the present and future of the San Jose Sharks in goal after he was acquired from the Boston Bruins for a 2016 first-round pick and prospect Sean Kuraly.
Earlier today, Craig Custance of ESPN pegged Jones as the most important San Jose Sharks player. As Custance notes, there’s an argument to be made that goaltenders are the most important player on any team, but the circumstances surrounding Jones is what makes him different from many in the league.
Jones, who has excellent size at 6-foot-4, has only started 29 career NHL games. For a Sharks team that has aspirations of returning and making a run in the playoffs, that’s a big gamble to take. However, Jones’ numbers during that time frame are quite good with a .923 save percentage and seven shutouts.
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Obviously the talent and production is there, albeit in a very small sample size, but Jones has shown that he can make it in the NHL. If we took his career save percentage and stretched that over a full season, Jones would’ve ranked within the top-10 (tied for seventh) of all NHL netminders last season. For reference, Antti Niemi’s .914 save percentage didn’t rank within the top-20.
Custance does a nice job of pointing out other Los Angeles Kings backups who have performed very well in L.A., but have faltered elsewhere. Ben Scrivens and Jonathan Bernier have not looked anywhere near as good as they did behind the Kings structure and defense, especially Scrivens.
San Jose will need to improve their defensive play in front of Jones to avoid him falling into that same category. The Sharks ranked 24th in goals against last season, mainly due to a defensive corps that didn’t provide their goaltender much support.
For this reason, I would personally rank Marc-Edouard Vlasic as my most important Shark. Vlasic is as steady as they come and the leader of a blue line that needs to bounce back if the Sharks are going to enjoy any kind of success.
A return to form of Justin Braun, another year of experience for Brent Burns, and the addition of Paul Martin should help the entire defensive unit improve from their poor play, but Vlasic is the one guy who brings them all together.
This whole notion of “most important” is an interesting debate because it can be looked at in so many different facets, and Custance is right to include Jones in the discussion. He’s definitely in the top-five of most important players, and he will be at the focal point for the San Jose Sharks next season.
However, the guys in front of him will play a huge role as well, and for that reason, Vlasic is my choice.
Next: Jones, Martin Contracts Potential Cause For Concern