Ondrej Pavelec’s trying season is now over.
Despite last week’s reports that he was expected to start sometime during the Jets’ current six-game home stand, things have changed quickly in Manitoba. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun is reporting that Pavelec will have season-ending surgery on Monday. He has not played in nearly a month, last suiting up for a 4-2 loss against Minnesota on February 7. Pavelec is 4-4-0 in eight appearances this season.
The season got off to a tough start for Pavelec, who was waived and assigned to the AHL at the end of training camp. In 18 games with the Manitoba Moose, Pavelec had eight wins with a 0.917 SV% and 2.78 GAA. He was recalled in mid-January and played eight of the next nine games, but has not made any appearances since leaving that Wild-Jets game on February 7. The Jets placed him on injured reserve (IR) with a lower-body injury on Valentine’s Day. Pavelec was initially expected to miss about a week.
If this is it for Pavelec’s season, then it’s also the end of his long tenure with the Thrashers/ Jets organization. A pending-UFA, Pavelec was selected 41st overall by Atlanta in 2005, and has played parts of 10 seasons with the franchise. In 379 appearances, Pavelec has a record of 152-158-47 with a 0.907 SV% and 2.87 GAA. He also posted 17 shutouts. After making 57 starts in 2013-14, he’s slowly lost the starting role to a combination of Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson.