Hurricanes interested in Connor Hellebuyck, but Jets deal isn't easy, Friedman says

Connor Hellebuyck's name is back in Carolina trade chatter, and the Winnipeg Jets just dropped a third straight game Tuesday night.

Elliotte Friedman addressed it Monday on 32 Thoughts. “We all know that Carolina's been interested,” he said, adding that he doesn't think “it's an easy deal for those two teams to make.”

Interested. Not easy. Both halves of that sentence matter.

The timing couldn't be worse for Winnipeg. A 2-1 loss in St. Louis left the Jets at 4-3-2, fifth in the Central Division.

Carolina lives at the other end of the standings. The Hurricanes are 8-2-1 and own the top spot in the entire league.

And they've already beaten the Jets once. Carolina won 3-2 in Winnipeg on Saturday, and the rematch lands Nov. 1 in Carolina.

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Pyotr Kochetkov's numbers explain Carolina's goalie hunt

So why would a first-place team go shopping for a goaltender? Look at the crease. Pyotr Kochetkov has five wins but an .899 save percentage.

Brandon Bussi hasn't been the answer either, sitting at .882 through five appearances.

Rod Brind'Amour's group has a +15 goal differential, and nobody builds that kind of October cushion to settle for average goaltending in the spring.

Hellebuyck carries an $8,500,000 cap hit, fourth-highest among NHL goaltenders. That's the first wall Eric Tulsky has to climb.

Squeezing that number onto a contender's books in October is like hauling a couch up a narrow staircase. It can be done. Something's getting scraped on the way up.

The Winnipeg crease picture is strange right now. Every one of the Jets' nine goalie decisions this season belongs to Stuart Skinner or Clay Stevenson.

Skinner stopped 26 of 28 shots in St. Louis and still took the loss. Stevenson has one win in three appearances.

The skaters aren't bailing anybody out. Winnipeg has scored 24 goals and allowed 26 through nine games.

The blue line is thinner too. Josh Morrissey is on injured reserve with a wrist injury, not expected back before Nov. 1.

Kyle Connor is doing his part with eight goals, four of them on the power play. One shooter can only carry a lineup so far.

Here's where Kevin Cheveldayoff needs to be stubborn. Moving a franchise goaltender nine games into a season, in the middle of a three-game skid, is selling at the bottom. Bad idea.

Carolina has its own bills coming due. Taylor Hall is on injured reserve until at least Nov. 7, and Jordan Staal is out until at least Dec. 3 with a calf injury.

Neither team gets a breather. The Jets visit Dallas on Thursday, while the Hurricanes head into Edmonton the same night.

Friedman called it hard. He didn't call it dead. If Winnipeg is still sliding when it lands in Carolina, that game will carry a lot more weight than a November date should.

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