Jets’ plans for Budaj on hold for a day

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/10/2014 (3999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

wfpvideo:3823761440001:wfpvideo

The Winnipeg Jets remain hopeful that newly acquired goaltender Peter Budaj can still provide them some valuable depth in net heading into the 2014-15 regular season.

Budaj, who was acquired from the Monteal Canadiens on Sunday in a trade involving forward Eric Tangradi, was placed on waivers by the Jets on Monday as a first step towards sending him down to the minors to start the season with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in St. John’s.

That can only happen, however, if no one claims the nine-year NHL veteran off waivers today, all of which puts the Jets plans for Budaj on hold for a day.

“It’s a real positive for us and we’ll see how today works out,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Monday after his team’s practice at the MTS Centre.

The move to put Budaj on waivers signals the Jets’ intention to start the regular season this week with Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson as the No. 1 and No. 2 goaltenders respectively.

Maurice said he has enough confidence in Hutchinson to give him a chance this season to prove he’s NHL-ready.

“Mike has earned the opportunity to develop here. And if that means he stays and flourishes here, then good for us,” said Maurice. “But there’s no crystal ball on what we do with development. Mike has earned that right, but now having some depth in the goaltending position is something as a coach you like.”

The move to acquire Budaj on Sunday created some confusion in Jets Nation about Hutchinson’s immediate future with the NHL team, but in the end it all proved to be much ado about nothing.

Hutchinson said he was informed by Jets management on Sunday that the team intended to keep him in Winnipeg and send Budaj down.

“Nothing really changes for me,” said Hutchinson. “It’s always great to have depth in an organization. It’s kind of nice to have that because it creates competition and pushes you hard in practice.”

This morning’s practice was the first for the Jets since a series of moves on Sunday pared their roster down to 23 healthy players and a couple of injuries, which is where they need to be by Tuesday’s cutdown deadline.

Defencemen Zach Bogosian, who was injured during against a game against the Calgary Flames last Thursday, and Toby Enstrom, who was hurt in a game against the Flames on Saturday, were both full participants in practice on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Jets confirmed that defencemen Ben Chiarot and Keaton Ellerby, who were both put on waivers on Sunday, cleared on Monday and have been assigned to St. John’s.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek