Ondrej Pavelec has season-ending surgery, career as a Jet likely over

According to multiple sources, Ondrej Pavelec‘s season, and likely his career as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, is over. Pavelec has been having difficulties with his knee all season, and is now going to have surgery on it which will put him on the shelf for the remainder of the season. 

Pavelec was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the second round of the 2005 draft and was labelled as the franchise’s goalie of the future. Since the Thrashers moved north and become the Jets in 2011, Pavelec has been the team’s starting goalie. He was locked up to a five-year contract in 2012 with a cap hit of $3.9 million, and simply never lived up to the expectations around it.

The contract will come to an end this summer, and it would be shocking if the Jets re-signed him. They have Michael Hutchinson and Connor Hellebuyck take the majority of the minutes in net this season as Pavelec was pushed through waivers after training camp, and 21-year-old Eric Comrie had a strong season in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose this year.

It’s the end of an era, in Winnipeg. One many Jets fans will be happy to see. Pavelec played in eight NHL games this season posting a 3.55 goals against average and 0.88 save percentage. For his career, he played 379 gamed with the Jets and Thrashers, putting up a 0.907 save percentage.