Connor Hellebuyck landing with the Buffalo Sabres has been floating around this summer, and not everyone likes the fit.
Mike Harrington laid out his skepticism on Oilers Now, and he didn't hold back on the goaltender's recent track record.
"He's not been a good playoff goalie in multiple years," Harrington said. "He's a 33 year old goalie at 8.5 million on the cap for the next 5 years."
That's a real number too. Hellebuyck's cap hit sits at $8,500,000, matching Harrington's figure exactly.
Harrington did credit the resume. "Tremendous resume, regular season success," he added, before circling back to the concern that actually matters here.
"The Buffalo Sabres are in their Stanley Cup window, and I'm still struggling to see an upgrade there in terms of playoff goaltending given Hellebuyck's struggles in the playoffs."
That's a pointed take about a team that finished 50-23-9 last season, fourth overall in the entire league.
Mike Harrington on Oilers Now about Hellebuyck: "He's not been a good playoff goalie in multiple years. He's a 33 year old goalie at 8.5M$ on the cap for the next 5 years with tremendous resume regular season success but the Buffalo Sabres are in their Stanley Cup window & I'm still struggling to see an upgrade there in terms of playoff goaltending given Connor Hellebuyck's struggles in the playoffs [...]'' #NHL #LetsGoBuffalo #GoJetsGo #NHLJets
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Connor Hellebuyck trade to Buffalo brutally shut down over alarming playoff record
Hellebuyck posted a .895 save percentage across 57 games last season with the Winnipeg Jets, a number that invites exactly this kind of question.
Winnipeg finished 35-35-12 as a team, 26th overall, a steep drop for a franchise built around its goaltending for years.
Head coach Scott Arniel and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff have watched that number slide even as Hellebuyck's name keeps surfacing in trade speculation.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has real urgency after finishing fourth overall and still coming up short last spring, a gap that gets more glaring every offseason.
Adding a $8,500,000 goalie for five years only makes sense if he actually solves the playoff problem, not adds to it.
Harrington's argument isn't that Hellebuyck can't play. It's that betting a five-year term on a goalie already struggling in the moments that matter most is a real gamble.
Buffalo's front office will have to decide if the regular season numbers are worth ignoring the playoff ones, and that's not an easy call to make heading into a season with this much pressure attached.
Would Connor Hellebuyck actually be an upgrade for a Stanley Cup contender like Buffalo?
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