Martin Jones and 5 others clear waivers, remain with the Maple Leafs
When the Maple Leafs placed 6 players on waivers on Sunday, there was certainly an element of concern that at least one could be claimed. That one likely candidate seemed to be veteran netminder Martin Jones. Simon Benoit, Kyle Clifford, Dylan Gambrell, William Lagesson and Maxime Lajoie joined Jones on the waiver wire on Sunday and, surprisingly, all 6 players have cleared and are now eligible to be assigned to the AHL's Toronto Marlies, per TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston.
The reason why Jones seemed like a prime candidate for a waiver claim was because of his tremendous amount of NHL experience, combined with his very strong start in Seattle last season. He also posted a .939 SV% during the pre-season, which must have seemed enticing for teams around the league who happen to be dealing with key injuries in net.
Obviously, there's no way for us to know whether the $100K signing bonus that was built into Jones' contract by Leafs GM Brad Treliving, which he will collect tomorrow, had anything to do with why he wasn't claimed, but it may have helped some.
The Leafs have now assured a tremendous amount of depth at all positions heading into the season, with Jones headlining the bunch in goal, Clifford and Gambrell being nice pieces to step in for the Leafs in the bottom six, should injury strike, and Benoit, Lagesson and Lajoie on D. It's also worth mentioning that the Leafs still have Bobby McMann, Mikko Kokkonen and Tommy Miller up with the big team for now as some added depth pieces.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 9 | 281 ANSWERS Martin Jones and 5 others clear waivers, remain with the Maple Leafs Are you surprised that Martin Jones cleared waivers? | ||
| Yes | 236 | 84 % |
| No | 45 | 16 % |
| List of polls | ||
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