Well, here’s an interesting move.
Roughly 24 hours after acquiring Peter Budaj from Montreal, the Winnipeg Jets placed the veteran goalie on waivers.Jets are hoping Peter Budaj clears waivers Tuesday, they want to keep him for organizational depth. But they know it’s possible he’s taken
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) October 6, 2014
The Jets didn’t give up much to get Budaj -- Eric Tangradi, who they’d previously waived anyway -- but the decision to subject Budaj to waivers is a bit of a surprise. Many thought the 32-year-old would shore up Winnipeg’s dicey goaltending situation; No. 1 Ondrej Pavelec has some major question marks coming into this season and his projected backup, Michael Hutchinson, has all of three games of NHL experience and looked shaky at times this preseason.
That said, Hutchinson was also required to clear waivers and it seems GM Kevin Cheveldayoff thought exposing Budaj was the safer bet.