Courtesy of Sportsnet
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This past Wednesday, July 28th marked the beginning of the Free Agency period within the NHL. With Free Agency usually comes an abundance of signings, movement of players, and other transactions for NHL clubs. Going into this UFA (unrestricted free agent) period the main issue the Flyers were looking to address through a signing was their backup goaltending position and solidifying their goaltending outlook for the upcoming 2021-2022 season. One reason why this was an important area for GM (General Manager) Chuck Fletcher to tackle was due to the team’s poor goaltending performances that occurred in the previous season. As a whole the Flyers team save percentage last season was .880 % and their goals against average per game was listed at 3.52 (courtesy of hockey-reference.com) effectively marking the club’s goaltending statistics as some of the worst in the entire NHL.
Additionally, promising netminder Carter Hart had a year where he struggled immensely and posted a personal save percentage of .877 % , with a goals against average of 3.67 (courtesy of hockey-reference.com). All of these factors above directly correlate with the notion that the Flyers needed to do something to switch up their goaltending situation this off-season. The team was not great defensively as a whole last season however, their goaltending did not do them any favors either. In many instances when the Flyers needed a big save the most it was nowhere to be found. Defense and goaltending go hand in hand and typically one area is not very good without the other being good as well. An assumption can be made that both the defense and goaltending struggling simultaneously compounded for the Flyers to have some of the worst goaltending and defensive stats in the league last season. What the above exhibits is the fact that GM Fletcher needed to do something in Free Agency to ensure the goaltending position was in a more favorable situation going into next season as a result of what happened in the 2020-2021 season.Â
As Fletcher has done so far all off-season he managed to deal with this issue the Flyers were plagued by last season. The GM made a signing that should theoretically solve the Flyers goaltending woes, though the fix brought in to do so has some question marks surrounding him. On the opening day of Free Agency the Flyers signed former LA Kings and San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones to a one year deal with an annual cap hit of 2 million dollars. A key aspect to this signing for the Flyers is the age of Jones (31 years old) and his ability to technically be a starting goalie and take on such a workload. Obviously, Carter Hart will be the Flyers starting goalie going into next season and many seasons beyond that, despite this though Jones being able to take on a starting goalies workload is one of the reasons Fletcher and staff decided to sign him. Jones’ capability to play many games was an attractive asset for the Flyers going into next season because if for some reason Hart struggles again the Flyers can rely on Jones to start multiple games in a row. Essentially, Jones is almost an insurance policy of a signing in regards to the starting goalie position. If Hart needs a week off to get his game back in order throughout this upcoming season Jones will easily be able to take on the workload in terms of starts and allow for Hart to work on his game and get it back to the high level he has typically played at. The Flyers were not able to do this last season with Elliott due to his age and how many games he could handle playing in a row. Signing Jones though a question mark at least allows for some extra leeway for Hart if needed in the 2021-2022 season.
When focusing in on Martin Jones as a goalie he has had an up and down career to date which is where many of the question marks surrounding this signing by Fletcher stem from. To start off his career Jones was stellar to say the least. In his first two seasons with the Kings he posted save percentages of .934 % and .906 % along with goals against averages of, 1.81 and 2.24 respectively (courtesy of hockey-reference.com). After the move to San Jose, Jones still continued his great play in an even bigger role. The netminder played 65, 65, and 60 games in the following three seasons with the Sharks and was able to put up some impressive numbers while growing into a starting goaltender position in the NHL. Jones in these three seasons had save percentages of .918 %, .912 %, and .915% and had goals against averages of 2.27, 2.40 and 2.55 (courtesy of hockey-reference.com) which put him into a class of being a goaltender who can start a lot of games while also performing at a very high level. Unfortunately, over the next three seasons Jones lost a lot of the structure and calmness that was previously present within his game. Though there were still some solid performances present over the past three seasons there were fewer to be found as a level of unpredictability began to creep into Jones’ overall game. In various instances Jones would have great periods for the Sharks and then fold under the circumstances throughout the rest of the game played which was a troubling trend for the netminder in the last three seasons. As a result of this, Jones’ statistical numbers plummeted from his usual steady performances. Over the past 3 seasons Jones had a save percentage of, .896 % for each season and goals against averages of, 2.94, 3.00, and 3.28 (courtesy of hockey-reference.com). There’s not much to dissect with these stats listed above as it was quite clear over the past three seasons that Jones did not play up to his previous standards as he was one of the worst starting goaltenders in the NHL. However, the Sharks were one of the worst teams in the NHL the past two seasons finishing last in their division in the 2019-2020 season and second last in the 2020-2021 season. So it’s safe to assume that San Jose as a whole was not a very good team and this most likely played a role in Jones’ sub par performances at least in the last two seasons.Â
In relation to the Jones signing the interesting thing at play here will be if Jones can rebound to his previous form. He was arguably one of the upper echelon goaltenders in the NHL from 2013-2017 and that was not by accident as over that period he played a plethora of games and performed well. The Flyers are taking a risk with this signing though as they are hoping for a bounce back season from Jones. Fletcher and the Flyers perspective seems to be that in a new environment and with different expectations in Philadelphia it will allow for the goaltender to regain both his confidence in the net and his ability to be a great goaltender as he previously was just a few seasons ago. Although it is another environment for Jones along with a role change as he will be the back-up to Carter Hart there is one aspect of familiarity for the new Flyers goaltender that played a part in him signing here. Jones will now be reunited with his former goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh in whom he worked with while a part of the LA Kings organization both when he was a starter at the AHL level and a back-up to Jonathan Quick in his first two NHL seasons. It is an important thing to note in regards to Jones signing with the Flyers as Dillabaugh and the veteran netminder had a wonderful working relationship with one another. The Flyers current goaltending coach was able to build up the confidence and technique within Jones’ game while he worked with him in the LA organization. For Jones who has struggled recently, getting back to basics with his game and working with someone in which he had a lot of success with in the past should help in terms of the netminder getting his game back on track. The Flyers seem to be banking on the prior relationship between Dillabaugh and Jones to have a positive impact on the goaltender’s game overall. Ultimately, it will be fascinating to see how Jones will perform this upcoming season as there are certainly question marks surrounding his game and his ability to stabilize the Flyers goaltending position as Hart’s backup.
When looking at the Flyers goaltending situation for the 2021-2022 season ahead signing Jones was a move surrounded in skepticism from many who cover the team and the Flyers fan base in general. In light of this, Jones’ ability to bounce back and be a good goalie partner for Carter Hart will be crucial to this team’s success as he will need to play in his fair share of games this season due to the condensed schedule with the NHL and its players likely participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Jones’ performance this season ahead will definitely be important but as always the team needs a great season from its starting goaltender to ensure their return to the playoffs. Simply put the Flyers are going to rely on Carter Hart to be their starter while hoping he provides quality saves and minutes this upcoming season. Despite his struggles last season, the end of the season showed the young goaltender was returning to his form from the 2019-2020 season in which he was arguably one of the best goalies in the league. With a full off-season of training, as well as, a full training camp I expect Carter Hart to have a bounce back season in 2021-2022. Consequently, if Hart does falter Chuck Fletcher signing Martin Jones who will be able to start a considerable amount of games if needed is a great insurance blanket in case there are any struggles with the Flyers goaltender of the present and the future. One has to think a new environment, being the back up and not the bona fide starter, and reuniting with former goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh in which he had tremendous successes with in the past has set up Jones for a return to form as well.
