Sep 25, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Peter Budaj (30) makes a save against Colorado Avalanche during the third period at Bell Centre. (Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

Since the team’s return to the NHL, Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has basically done two things consistently: Committing to his core of former Thrashers and never really trading an NHL player for another NHL player.

On Sunday, he bucked the trend, and improved by far the weakest area of his team: Dealing Eric Tangradi, who passed through waivers this week, for veteran backup goalie Peter Budaj and forward Patrick Holland, who plays for Hamilton in the AHL.

The biggest name here is Budaj, who heads to the Jets for his 10th NHL season. Since 2012, he’s been a primary backup goalie for Carey Price. Last season, he played 24 games and went 10-8-3 with a solid .914 even strength save percentage. But with the emergence of Dustin Tokarski, he was expendable.

He’s filling the role Michael Hutchison failed to nail down in the preseason, but more importantly he’s a veteran netminder that can push or supplant starter Ondrej Pavelec, a sieve that’s taken human form and inexplicably has the backing of the Jets.

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Tangradi is a Corsi darling on the fourth line, but hasn’t come close to meeting the offensive promise of his minor league career with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ farm team. His career points per game average: 0.11.

Good trade for the Jets. In the sense that anything that moves their goaltending needle closer to "slightly below average" is a good thing.