Four days after the Boston Bruins stole him from the Vancouver Canucks, Jiri Patera is back on waivers.
Patera was a surprise waiver-wire pickup by the Bruins, thereby messing up the Canucks’ goalie plans. The 25-year-old Czech goaltender has eight games of NHL experience and was supposed to be the starting goalie in Abbotsford this season.
That may still happen.
The Bruins finally re-signed Jeremy Swayman today, which allowed them to put Patera back on waivers. Expect the Canucks to put in a claim.
As CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal noted last week, if the Canucks are the only team that claims Patera, they’ll be able to put him in Abbotsford without the need for waivers again.
We’ll find out if that happens when waiver picks are made public after 11 am PT on Monday.
There is usually a goaltending shuffle in the NHL at this time of year. Teams in need of a goalie have a few options, with the likes of James Reimer, Matt Murray, and Pheonix Copley put on waivers today.
Waivers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/G0uPmXBLvw
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 6, 2024
If the Canucks get Patera back, it would allow he and Nikita Tolopilo to share the AHL netminder duties in Abbotsford, at least until Thatcher Demko gets healthy.
It remains to be seen what the team will do when that happens.
The Canucks could run with three goalies in the NHL, demote Arturs Silovs, or risk losing Kevin Lankinen on waivers.
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