Jets acquire goalie Budaj from Canadiens

The Winnipeg Jets on Sunday acquired goaltender Peter Budaj and forward Patrick Holland from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Eric Tangradi.

Budaj, 32, went 10-8-3 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in 24 games last season backing up Carey Price. In 296 NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and Canadiens, Budaj is 124-107-36 with a 2.76 GAA and .903 save percentage. He is expected to back up Ondrej Pavelec in Winnipeg.

"I would like to thank Peter Budaj who has been an outstanding teammate and stood tall for us over the past three seasons," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said in a statement. "This transaction enables our team to make room for Dustin Tokarski. Eric Tangradi is a young veteran with 136 NHL games under his belt. He adds depth to our group up front and provides us with more options when we will need help coming from our affiliate team in Hamilton."

The Canadiens backup goalie job now falls to Dustin Tokarski, 25, who has played 10 career regular-season games with Montreal and the Tampa Bay Lightning over five years as a professional, with a 3-3-2 record, a 2.93 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

Tokarski won the confidence of Canadiens coach Michel Therrien last season while Price recovered from an injury he sustained at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Tokarski won his first-career start for Montreal on March 5 in a road game against the Anaheim Ducks, stopping 39 of 42 shots and four of six shots in the shootout in a 4-3 Canadiens victory.

His only other start of the regular season came one game after Price's return from injury when Therrien decided to start Tokarski on the road against the Buffalo Sabres on March 16 instead of Budaj, the first hint of the decision he would later make in the playoffs. Tokarski stopped all 29 shots he faced in a 2-0 Montreal win for his first career shutout.

In the eight games Price missed because of his injury, Budaj started seven and won two, neither in regulation, and put up a 3.51 GAA and .868 save percentage.

When Price was injured in the second period of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final after the New York Rangers' Chris Kreider crashed into him in his net, Budaj allowed three goals on eight shots in the third period of a 7-2 Rangers win.

Therrien went with Tokarski to start Game 2, and he had a 2-3 record with a 2.60 GAA and .916 save percentage in the final five games of the series.

Holland, 22, appeared in five games for the Canadiens last season. He had six goals and 17 points in 57 games for Hamilton of the American Hockey League.

Tangradi, 25, was placed on waivers by the Jets on Friday and will report to Hamilton. He had three goals and six points in 55 games last season, and has five goals and 15 points in 136 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jets.

"A bunch of guys are ahead of him," Jets coach Paul Maurice told the Winnipeg Sun on Friday. "He either needs to get a fresh start with another team... or get back to a game where he can play 18-20 minutes a night, and find that game. Being here wasn't going to make us better, it wasn't going to make him better."