WINNIPEG – Winnipeg Jets’ goalie Peter Budaj has cleared waivers allowing the NHL team to re-assign it’s new acquisition to the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League.
Budaj was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, with the Jets sending Eric Tangradi to the Canadiens for Budaj and right winger Patrick Holland. Budaj will share the goaltending duties in St. John’s with Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck. Holland was also sent to the IceCaps.
Budaj will still earn his full NHL salary which will pay him $1.4 million this season. He had eight wins and three losses in 24 starts with the Canadiens last season posting a respectable 2.51 goals against average. The 32-year-old last appeared in the AHL in the 2004-2005 season with the Hershey Bears and spent the last nine seasons in the NHL with the Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.
Ondrej Pavelec is expected to handle most of the work between the pipes for the Jets this season with Michael Hutchinson as his backup. But Budaj does give the club some much-needed depth at the goaltending position if Pavelec or Hutchinson gets injured.
Winnipeggers Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren also cleared waivers Tuesday morning paving the way for the Toronto Maple Leafs to send them to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
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