Connor Hellebuyck's future with the Winnipeg Jets is still a mess heading into training camp.
Elliotte Friedman dropped an update on NHL Tonight Thursday, and it wasn't much of one. He called the situation "quiet" right now.
But Friedman still believes Hellebuyck gets moved at some point. He asked around and came up empty. His words: he "didn't get a lot."
Friedman thinks the real movement happens closer to training camp, not now, in the dead of August.
NHL Rumour Report added the other half of the picture Sunday. Winnipeg reportedly still wants to keep its franchise goaltender.
Hellebuyck, by all accounts, has not budged. He still wants out.
So you've got a goalie who wants gone and a front office that wants him to stay. Something has to break.
Why Cheveldayoff can't just cave on his franchise goalie
Kevin Cheveldayoff has run this front office since 2011. That's a long runway, and it means he's not the type to panic into a bad return.
Hellebuyck is 33 years old and carries an $8,500,000 cap hit, fifth-highest among all NHL goaltenders. That number alone limits who can even take the call.
On the ice, he posted an .895 save percentage across 57 games last season, with 18 wins. Respectable, not dominant. Not the kind of resume that forces a bidding war.
Winnipeg finished 35-35-12 with 82 points, good for 26th overall and seventh in the division. A minus-29 goal differential tells you the whole season was a grind, not just the goaltending.
The Jets dropped their last four games of the year, including a 1-6 blowout loss to San Jose to close it out. Scott Arniel has been behind the bench since 2024, and that finish will not sit well with him or his goaltender.
Here's the thing nobody wants to say out loud. Sitting on this all summer is a bad idea for Winnipeg.
Every week this drags on, Hellebuyck's leverage grows and his trade value gets murkier. It's like holding a lottery ticket past the deadline and hoping the numbers don't change.
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Training camp is the deadline everyone in that Friedman quote is circling. Whether Cheveldayoff blinks first is the only question that actually matters now.
Should the Jets trade Connor Hellebuyck this offseason even though he's their best goaltender?
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