Sharks acquire goalie Martin Jones in trade with Bruins
Just days after acquiring goaltender Martin Jones from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Milan Lucic, the Boston Bruins flipped him to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday for a 2016 first-round pick and the rights to unsigned prospect Sean Kuraly.
The Sharks had targeted Jones six months ago as the player they wanted as their next franchise goalie. The issue was getting him away from rival Los Angeles, so when Jones was traded to Boston, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told Bruins counterpart Don Sweeney of San Jose's interest while the two were on the draft floor last weekend in Sunrise, Florida.
"Martin was at the top of our list of players that we had targeted,'' Wilson said. "We're extremely excited to have him on board.''
Agent Jarrett Bousquet told ESPN.com that his client, Jones, signed a three-year, $9-million deal with the Sharks.
Prior to the Bruins making the official trade announcement Tuesday, Sweeney held a conference call with reporters and said he was exploring other options for Jones.
"We've had discussions with Martin's representative and we've explored some different possibilities with him, so we'll see where the day leads to," Sweeney said.
When the Bruins acquired Jones last Friday, some thought they could wait and see how he developed, and if he proved to be a No. 1 goalie, Sweeney could consider moving Tuukka Rask to free up even more cap space.
Sweeney, though, wanted to make it clear he was not moving Rask this offseason.
"Absolutely Tuukka Rask is not on the market," Sweeney said.
Jones, 25, is a restricted free agent.
The Sharks' addition of Jones, meanwhile, helps fill the void in net left by Antti Niemi, who signed with the Dallas Stars after they acquired his rights by sending a seventh-round pick to San Jose on Saturday.
Kuraly, 22, played in 40 games for Miami University (Ohio) in 2014-15, collecting 19 goals and 10 assists. In 118 career games at Miami, he had 37 goals and 33 assists.
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound forward also won a gold medal for Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championships.
