from Craig Custance of ESPN,
Granted, you could name the starting goalie the most important player on every NHL team and probably be right, but in San Jose, it’s an especially interesting scenario because Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is betting so heavily on a 25-year-old goalie with just 29 career starts.
Wilson was working the goalie trade market even before the trade deadline, so he had a really good feel for who was available and just what the asking price would be. That he picked Jones in a deal that cost the Sharks a 2016 first-round pick and prospect Sean Kuraly shows just how much he thinks of the young goaltender. The three-year, $9 million contract Jones signed further highlighted that faith.
The question now becomes: Is Jones the real deal?
The Kings believed in Jones internally. They saw him as a future NHL starter. Dealing him to the Boston Bruins (who spun him to the Sharks) had more to do with his coming pay raise and the fact that starter Jonathan Quick will be entrenched in the Kings net for years to come.
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