Music: {allcanada} Jets waive G Peter Budaj 24 hours after trading for him

Monday, October 6, 2014

{allcanada} Jets waive G Peter Budaj 24 hours after trading for him

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The Winnipeg Jets made some minor waves Sunday by acquiring backup goalie Peter Budaj and forward Patrick Holland from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Eric Tangradi. It was noteworthy because it was Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff's first player-for-player trade of his career, now entering his fourth season. Turns out, the club doesn't plan on keeping Budaj on the NHL roster like it appeared that trade suggested.

The Jets waived Budaj on Wednesday. It's a bit of a puzzler, but given the current state of the Jets' goaltending, it actually makes quite a bit of sense.

t looked like Budaj was going to be a good option for the Jets as a veteran backup who has some experience as a starter. However, it appears that the No. 2 job is going to go to the promising, but largely unproven Michael Hutchinson.

Hutchinson made his first three NHL appearances last season and performed well with a .943 save percentage and 1.64 goals-against average. He would have also required waivers if the Jets wanted to send him down to the American Hockey League, so risking Budaj instead makes sense in that regard. Hutchinson would have been far more likely to get claimed.

Hutchinson is only 24 years old and could possibly see some serious spot starts while serving as the understudy to Ondrej Pavelec, who has not been very good over the last few years in Winnipeg.

Budaj can go down to the AHL and possibly help with top goaltending prospect Connor Hellebuyck, who will be honing his craft with the St. John's Ice Caps next year. That is of course if Budaj goes unclaimed, which seems likely at this point.

In the end, the Jets did not give up much for Budaj, as Tangradi was likely to start the year in the AHL anyway. Now they have some goaltending depth and protect themselves from having to call up Hellebuyck before he is ready.

It's got to be a strange 24 hours for Budaj, who went from Montreal, where he spent three years as a backup, to the Jets, and now he's probably headed to the AHL. The 32-year-old has 296 games of NHL experience and has a career .903 save percentage.

For Cheveldayoff, it's another minor trade in a series of many minor trades over his tenure. While the Jets might not be active on the trade market and have yet to sign any significant free agents, the club has drafted really well, so there's that at least.

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