The San Jose Sharks have made some notable roster moves over the last two days, placing goaltender Martin Jones on waivers for a buyout and choosing not to extend a qualifying offer to forward Ryan Donato.
Jones is 31 years old and has spent the last six seasons with the Sharks, posting an .896 save percentage in each of the last three of them.
MARTIN JONES APPRECIATION TWEET.
It's been quite a ride, Joner. We wouldn't have made some pretty EPIC playoff memories without Game of Jones in net.
He had three years remaining on his contract at a $5.75 million and as a result of the buyout, the Sharks will have the following cap penalty on the books for the next six seasons:
Donato spent the 2020-21 season with San Jose, after being acquired from the Minnesota Wild last offseason. He scored six goals and 20 points in 50 games, a pace of 10 goals and 33 points per 82 games. Donato’s coming off a two-year deal which carried a $1.9 million AAV and will now be an unrestricted free agent.
In addition to Donato, Nick Merkley, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils yesterday, did not get a qualifying offer. The one player that the Sharks did extend an offer to was forward Noah Gregor.
QUICK THOUGHTS: I’ve already shared my thoughts on a potential Martin Jones buyout, which you can read here. As a quick recap though, I think it made more sense for the Sharks to hold off on a buyout, given they’re not going to be competitive anyways.
As for Donato, I do understand the decision not to extend a qualifying offer, though I was hoping he’d be back. The Sharks don’t have a ton of forward depth and we’ll have to see how they use this cap space.
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Do you think the Sharks should have extended a qualifying offer to Ryan Donato?