The Winnipeg Jets begin a new area in goaltending by placing long-time starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec on waivers. Pavelec has been the franchises starting goaltender since the relocation from Atlanta to Winnipeg. Pavelec, 29, has one year remaining on his contract with $3.9 million counting toward the Jets salary cap. Although roughly $1.8 Million dollars would still count towards the Jets salary cap entering the 2016-17 season should he go unclaimed, the Jets boast roughly $8 Million dollars in cap space, even if they can come to terms with Jacob Trouba they will likely have plenty of cap space to spare.
#NHLJets cut Ondrej Pavelec, Nic Petan, Marco Dano, Andrew Copp, Chase DeLeo, Anthony Peluso, Brian Strait, Julian Melchiori #breakingnews
— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) October 10, 2016
Winnipeg Jets Place Ondrej Pavelec On Waivers
Moving on from Pavelec has been a long time coming for the Jets who over the course of 371 NHL games played has a record of 148 wins, 154 losses, and 47 overtime/shootout losses. As well as having a losing record Pavelec also has a career 2.84 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. Pavelec has been consistently below league average in the listed metrics among starting goaltenders.
The Connor Hellebuyck Era Begins
Connor Hellebuyck is the favorite among many Jets fans to take over the starting job in Winnipeg. Last year Hellebuyck started in 26 games with 13 wins, 11 losses and one loss in overtime/shootout. In this small sample size of games, he had a 2.34 goals-against average with a .914 save percentage. Hellebuyck also served as the third goalie for Team North America in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Hellebuyck was a fifth-round draft pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (130th overall). He will be sharing the net with Micheal Hutchinson who will also be pushing for the starting role in Winnipeg. Hutchinson has served as Pavelec’s backup for the last two seasons.
Jets Send Seven Others to the AHL
In addition to Ondrej Pavelec the Jets sent the following players down to the AHL‘s Manitoba Moose:
- Andrew Copp – F
- Marko Dano – F
- Chase De Leo – F
- Anthony Peluso – F
- Nic Petan – F
- Julian Melchiori – D
- Brian Strait – D
Along with Pavelec, Anthony Peluso, Julian Melchiori, and Brian Strait will also need to clear waivers before they can be officially assigned to the AHL.
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