The 31-year-old goalie will be able to sign elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent Wednesday. He signed a six-year contract with the Sharks on June 23, 2016, and was 15-13-4 with a 3.28 GAA, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 34 games this season, when he shared playing time with Devan Dubnyk,
Josef Korenar
and
Alexei Melnichuk
.
"This was not a decision we made lightly," San Jose general manager Doug Wilson said Tuesday. "It's never enjoyable to part with someone who's been, to me, has been a big part of this franchise the last six years. We knew that change was needed, but also not forget some of the things he did."
Jones was 170-121-37 with a 2.66 GAA, .907 save percentage and 18 shutouts in 327 games (325 starts), and 32-27 with a 2.41 GAA, .916 save percentage and six shutouts in 60 Stanley Cup Playoff games after the Sharks acquired him in a trade with the Boston Bruins on June 30, 2015. He was 14-10 with a 2.16 GAA, .923 save percentage and an NHL-high three shutouts in 24 playoff games in 2016, when San Jose reached the Stanley Cup Final and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
"We don't go to the Stanley Cup Final without Martin Jones," Wilson said. "It's mixed feelings, but we understand that sometimes goaltenders get too much credit when you win and too much blame when you lose, but that's the reality of that position. We came to the conclusion that change was needed and we've pushed forward on that."
Wilson said Jones' decline could have been from workload; his 325 starts were the most in the NHL since his arrival in San Jose. He played 65, 65, 60 and 62 games in his first four seasons there.
"I think he played so much hockey, maybe too much hockey," Wilson said. "I think that might have taken its toll on him. It wasn't through a lack of work or through lack of effort, but I think historically you've seen goalies hit that wall, and maybe that's what happened with Martin."
Jones signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings as an undrafted free agent Oct. 2, 2008. He was the backup to Jonathan Quick when the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2014.
The Sharks acquired goalie Adin Hill and a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on July 17 for Korenar and a second-round pick in the 2022 draft. Hill, 25, can become a restricted free agent Wednesday.
"The most important part was getting Adin, now we see who complements him," Wilson said. "We need one more guy that I think is a quality veteran, that is a stabilizer you know what you're going to get. There's a few of them out there and we'll be exploring them as soon as [Wednesday].
"We also wanted to treat Martin with the respect that he deserves. I had a good talk with him this morning, so we wanted to handle it the right way. But we made the commitment to changing our goaltending and we've done that. We're most of the way through that process. We have one more goalie to add."
