Is another goalie on Jets’ wish list?

Kevin Cheveldayoff and company are down to the short strokes.

With the opening-day roster due on Monday afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets took steps on the weekend to get down to the final number.

As it stood on Sunday, the Jets were down to 24 healthy players in training camp after centre Danny Zhilkin and defenceman Henry Thrun were placed on waivers.

With a maximum of 23 spots available, the only things left to determine are whether the Jets are interested in claiming a more experienced goalie to serve as the backup to Stuart Skinner and if centre Brayden Yager will break camp with the big club.

Let’s start with the goaltending decision, as it has been an obvious storyline to monitor since Connor Hellebuyck was suspended for not showing up for training camp.

Dom DiVincentiis had a strong showing in his game against the Edmonton Oilers, making 21 saves in the 2-1 overtime loss.

But was his training camp – coupled by what he showed during the Calder Cup playoffs with the Manitoba Moose last spring – enough to give him the No. 2 spot on the depth chart for the time being?

That won’t likely be clear until Monday afternoon, when waiver claims will be made public.

There were some interesting names on the waiver wire on the weekend, but it was Sunday’s list that probably provided the greatest appeal.

There are three goalies that could make sense for the Jets, whether they’re looking for a short-term boost or more of a longer-range solution.

The Anaheim Ducks placed former Jets netminder Laurent Brossoit on waivers on Sunday, choosing instead to stick with Ville Husso as the backup to Lukas Dostal.

Brossoit has worked his way back from several injury-plagued seasons and wants to get back to the form that had him between the pipes for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, recording five playoff wins during the Stanley Cup championship campaign.

Brossoit, 33, was limited to 25 games last season (including two for the San Jose Barracuda during the Calder Cup playoffs), but he’s familiar with the organization and has the type of resume that would offer plenty of appeal.

Another goalie to keep an eye on is Clay Stevenson, a 27-year-old who has only five NHL games with the Washington Capitals on his resume but has posted strong numbers in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.

The other wild card in this discussion is New York Rangers goalie Dylan Garand, who made his NHL debut against the Jets last season, making 35 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss.

Garand, 24, is a fourth round pick from the Rangers who played for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League and has made between 32 and 39 appearances in each of the past four seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

Based on finishing 26th overall last season, the Jets have high priority if they want to put in a claim for a goalie or another position player.

The goalie decision should be pretty straightforward, as it will either be DiVincentiis staying in his current role or the Jets sending him directly to the Moose if a waiver claim is made, since the seventh round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft is exempt from waivers.

One of the decisions left on the position player side revolves around whether the Jets are going to keep eight defencemen and 13 forwards or 14 forwards and seven blue-liners.

Unless there is a player that will join defencemen Elias Salomonsson (shoulder) and Garrett Brown (lower body) and forward Walker Duehr (lower body) on injured reserve, the Jets need to assign at least one player to the Moose.

The path of least resistance would be to assign Brayden Yager to the AHL, though that decision could also be more related to the benefits of the 2023 first-rounder getting first-line minutes and enhanced puck touches on the top player play unit with the Moose.

There’s a faction of fans that don’t agree with that line of thinking and will surely voice their displeasure if that’s the decision the Jets ultimately make.

It’s important to remember that the opening-day roster is just that, it’s nothing close to permanent – even if a lot of thought is put into finalizing it.

Yes, Yager has earned praise for the work he put in over the summer and you can see the growth in his overall game.

He’s clearly knocking on the door to earning full-time duty.

However, a demotion for Yager isn’t a referendum on his current worth, it would be a further investment in his future.

Although we live in a society that craves immediate results, Yager’s long-term development could be assisted by playing an enhanced role with the Moose in what is just his second pro season.

That Yager put himself in position to join the likes of Viggo Bjorck, Isaak Rosen and Brad Lambert on that opening-day roster is a testament to the strides he’s already taken.

It’s not as simple as the Jets being loyal to veterans who clearly are coming off subpar seasons.

Several of those veterans did their part to stave off the competition, but that doesn’t mean their spots are guaranteed for 82 games either.

The Jets have reached a point where they’re looking for an influx of speed and youth and that’s still taking place, regardless of what happens with Yager.

With Saturday’s news that forwards Nikita Chibrikov, Noah Gregor and Parker Ford and defenceman Isaak Phillips had cleared waivers, that means the Jets organizational depth didn’t take a hit.

Will the same happen for Zhilkin and Thrun?

If they clear, Zhilkin (chosen by the Jets in the third round in the 2022 NHL Draft) should also be ready to be used in prime minutes at even strength and on special teams.

The same can be said for Thrun, who is set to run the top power play and likely be used on the top pairing after helping the Toronto Marlies capture the Calder Cup last June.

Sunday’s roster moves also represent a vote of confidence for defenceman Tyrel Bauer.

A sixth round pick of the Jets in 2020, Bauer is inching closer to making his NHL debut.

The toughness he would bring to the Jets is obvious, though Bauer continues to work at trying to prove that the rest of his game is ready to make the next step.

“You want to come out and the competitive nature in you is to put everything you’ve got on the table and really show the improvements or where you want to be at,” Bauer said on Friday morning before the Jets closed out the exhibition schedule against the Colorado Avalanche.

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