Is Connor Hellebuyck’s time with the Winnipeg Jets over, or will he be back next season?
NHL Media: EJ Hradek was asked if Connor Hellebuyck has played his last game for the Winnipeg Jets and if he will be traded at the start of the season.
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Jamison Coyle: “Has the netminder played his last game in Winnipeg?”
Hradek: “I think he has it. I think that, the conversations that Hellebuyck talked about after a year, all the rumors about him are shaken. I think that, they plan to remove him.
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Now, again, I return to the situation with Buffalo. I think for the Winnipeg Jets, they want to get someone who can be a second center in return. Someone who can slide in behind (Mark) Scheifele and fill the hole that they’ve had, frankly, there for a long time.
I think the back and forth with the Buffalo Sabers has been, the Sabers really want Hellebuyck. They will give you a goalkeeper, and maybe a UPL in return, to make up for that. You have him and (Stuart) Skinner together. But what is the other part? I think Buffalo is serious about moving on from Jack Quinn, but he’s a quarterback. So does that really help the Winnipeg Jets, who recently agreed to an extension with Cole Perfetti (last week), which is good news for them?
So, you know, I think that’s the rub there. And again, there is no rush yet in mid-July. Buffalo is probably sitting there saying, ‘Well, this is what we’re willing to give you, and you know that’s it.’ And then Winnipeg, on the other hand, says, ‘Listen, you want Connor Hellebuyck? It would have to be a different player, player X, player Y.’ You have a lot of good young players out there in Buffalo.
So I think that’s it, because again, there’s no rush yet. It can happen any day. We can, August 6th, September 1st. Who knows? But as we get closer to the regular season, that pressure starts to build, and maybe that’s what the Buffalo Sabers are hoping for—that the Jets don’t want to enter the season with this hanging over their head.
Coyle: “Yeah, Connor Hellebuck goes to Buffalo, hypothetically. If it does, how much better does that make the Sabers on paper?”
Hradek: “I think on paper, it’s definitely better. I mean, let’s face it: this guy has won multiple Vezina trophies, he’s won a Hart Trophy, he’s got a gold medal. He’s a great goaltender, and he fills a spot there in Buffalo. So there’s no question about it.
The Montreal Canadiens can only offer the future
But I will say this about the Sabres: (Alex) Tuch has moved on. (Bowen) Byram is no longer on the blue line. That’s some serious depth. They have some really talented young players who are going to be key players for the Sabers who think they can fill those roles, especially 2, 3, 4 years down the road. But it’s very difficult now to replace those 30-plus goals from Tuch and the size and strength he has, and to replace what Byron was able to do in a secondary role for the Sabers on the blue line. So it will be interesting to see how things go in Buffalo this year, after such a good season last year.”
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