Connor Hellebuyck wanted out of Winnipeg, and Sunday morning brought bad news for how that actually gets done.
Elliotte Friedman raised it on NHL Tonight back on Thursday, and NHL Rumour Report brought the clip back around Sunday, racking up more than 101,000 views fast.
Friedman's words were blunt. He said "some of the things that were available at the beginning of the summer or at the draft are no longer available."
So what changed? Teams that had interest in July aren't sitting there anymore, and that's the kind of detail that reshapes a whole trade winter.
Hellebuyck still carries one of the heaviest price tags at his position. His $8,500,000 cap hit ranks fourth among all NHL goaltenders.
Last season didn't do him any favors either. He went 18-23-8 across 57 appearances with a .895 save percentage, hardly the number a big return gets built around.
The Jets themselves finished 35-35-12 for 82 points, stumbling out with a four-game losing streak to close things out.
They ranked 26th overall and seventh in the Central, with a minus-29 goal differential that tells its own story.
Winnipeg's cap crunch makes a Hellebuyck trade even harder
Scott Arniel is heading into a season now shadowed by a goaltender who wants a new address, and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has to find a taker without much leverage left.
This is the part where Bob gets to say it plainly: sitting on this through the summer was a mistake, and now the asking price is whatever's left on the shelf.
Think of it like trying to sell a house after the open house crowd already left. The offers you get now aren't the offers you had in June.
Hellebuyck's name isn't going away, and Friedman's comments only confirm the front office let this drag longer than it should have.
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Whether Winnipeg finds a deal before training camp opens, or ends up carrying an unhappy franchise goaltender into October, is still very much unresolved.
Should the Jets trade Connor Hellebuyck now even for a reduced return?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Connor Hellebuyck-to-Oilers trade proposal sparks major debate
