It’s shaping up to be a summer of potential big change in Winnipeg. With Pierre-Luc Dubois’ camp indicating that the center does not want to come back next season, one move of note could potentially be made sooner than later. Meanwhile, it appears Connor Hellebuyck could also be in play as Pierre LeBrun, Eric Duhatschek, and Michael Russo of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the ship has sailed on the idea of the goaltender signing a new contract with the Jets.
The 30-year-old is entering the final season of a six-year, $37MM contract signed back in 2018, one that has worked out quite nicely for Winnipeg. Hellebuyck has established himself as a premier netminder in the NHL in recent years but finds himself well below the top earners in the NHL – Carey Price ($10.5MM), Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM), and Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5MM). That’s expected to change next summer when he’s set to reach unrestricted free agency for the first time.
Hellebuyck led the NHL in games played this season for the fourth time out of the last six years. Despite the heavy workload, he posted his lowest GAA in five years (2.49) while finishing tied for fourth in SV% (.920). On top of that, this was the first time since 2017-18 that he didn’t lead the NHL in shots faced and saves, finishing third and second respectively in those categories. Unfortunately for Winnipeg, he wasn’t as sharp in the playoffs which helped play a role in their quick elimination at the hands of Vegas.
In his exit meeting with the media back in April, Hellebuyck indicated that his primary goal is to go after a Stanley Cup. Based on this report, the veteran has determined that it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to do so with Winnipeg, especially with the future of several core players in the air. On top of Dubois, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler are also one year away from unrestricted free agency which means the turnover could come quickly.
There are a few routes that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could elect to take here. One is to wait out the summer market and go with Hellebuyck between the pipes to start next season with an eye on moving him closer to the trade deadline. Such an approach isn’t without its risks but if a few teams feel that a goalie of his caliber could be the final piece of the puzzle, there could be a strong bidding war for his services. At that point, Winnipeg might be more willing to retain salary to help facilitate a swap which would only help his value. On the flip side, if they’re in contention, they could opt to keep him although the odds of that happening at this point seem fairly low.
Alternatively, if the Jets opt to move him now, they can either move him strictly as a rental or as part of an extend-and-trade agreement where Winnipeg could presumably resume a slightly better return in exchange for allowing the acquiring team to work a new deal out with him. While there will be some teams interested in both options, there could be others who might prefer Hellebuyck as a strict one-year rental to avoid paying top dollar for a netminder in 2024-25 and beyond. Similarly, other teams might not want to pay the top price in a swap unless it’s not a one-year rental. Either way, the interest is certain to be strong.
If Cheveldayoff does opt for a move this summer, it will need to come fairly soon. While the position player market can sometimes drag out, that typically isn’t the case for goalies as by the time the second day of free agency rolls around, most teams have their goaltenders set while many teams won’t have enough cap room remaining to bring in a pricey contract. If that holds true, that would mean that the window for a Hellebuyck trade is within the next three weeks. With a Dubois swap also seeming likely to take place within that timeframe, the Jets are certainly going to be a team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Another market turning toxic…
@Mac – The once powerful Central division is turning into the question mark division. Colorado and Dallas have the top two spots sewn up for the foreseeable future.
@Gbear – Kind of like “How the mighty have fallen”, eh? Instead of a slow and steady decline, this reminds me of a road rage incident I witnessed almost 40 years ago. As we’re exiting a highway to take an off-ramp in to the city, a guy ahead of me is going nutso with a car full of other people who keep going down the highway, with just us two taking the exit ramp. We go up in elevation and start turning away from the highway, which you can’t see anymore, and this guy is about to go off the exit ramp and down onto a semi-busy road below when he slams on the brakes and yanks the steering wheel hard right, only to lock everything up and flip himself airborne over me as I drive under him. Hard landing, he survived, but was pissed. Kind of like the Central division, everything’s going along swimmingly, with the appearance of dominance, only to jerk the wheel and lock everything up, with only two teams left that are wondering what the other dopes are doing. It might be so bad, we should vote to have 6 teams from the Pacific in next year’s playoffs just to spite the Central.
@Mac – Glad you survived that Mad Max incident! :0
Funny that Vegas has built their team almost in the complete opposite direction to how many of the “experts” say you should build a team, and yet here they are one win from winning the Cup. There’s no substitute for making wise trades and UFA signings.
@Gbear—People will continue to carp on them, rightfully or otherwise, about their lack of loyalty to their players. That can be a fair criticism, but they are trying really hard to win, if for no other reason than to bring Mr. Foley’s prediction of a cup in six years to fruition. If they win it all, will they change that attitude? I’m not sure that they would. This would be proof of concept for them to build a team that can make the playoffs virtually every year, and have a decent chance to go deep. Only mean ol’ Mr. Injury Bug can derail that, so some will applaud the strategy. It also changes the definition of patience that other teams are stuck in the mud with. Patience has been evolving into a different meaning with some organizations, as their playoff records in recent years show.
@Mac – It only took Vegas 5 years to do what the Preds have never done: acquire a legit top line center. :/
@Gbear – You know, I felt sure that we might be forgetting some decent players in NSH’s past, so I just took a quick peek at HockeyReference. Those numbers in their historical record are still less than inspiring. Filip is the leading goal scorer, but due to his bad luck with injuries is rapidly turning into a three-legged horse. I still like watching him do his thing, but he’s had a hard time staying on the ice in recent years, which is a shame. If you didn’t know better, you might think that NSH is a recent expansion team, still building their history. A top line center and more than just a couple of complementary pieces could get them back to relevance, so GMBT really has his work cut out for him, eh?
@Mac – Hoping that Trotzy turns out to be the anti-Poile. Hard to fathom, but maybe his stops in D.C. and NY got him to see things in a new light.
@Gbear – I sure hope so, too.
Get out while the gettin’s good.
Flight 37, with direct service to Chicago is now boarding.
He said he wanted to win a Stanley Cup, he should be on a flight to NJ
It’s time to rebuild. This team needs to get younger and they have gone as far as they could with the core group that they have had. I would mind getting some top 5-10 picks the next couple of years.
$9.5+mil per x 7/8yrs?
Pass.
The Sabres would be better off giving that to Rasmus Dahlin.
7×7.5 is my prediction
Quite aside from my serious prejudice against max term deals, anyone giving a max term extension risks Hellebucyk becoming just another one of those huge anchor contracts around a team’s neck, and we’ve seen way too many these last few years. Four years I’d give him. Anything more? Pass; let some other franchise be the sucker. Yes, he’s been excellent so far. So had been Gibson. So had been Price. So had been Bobrovsky. So had been Jones.
If Chevy does this right he could have a very quick turn around, maybe drop from contention this year get a top 10 or 12 pick and be right back next year in contention with guys he will have for 5+ years. IMO the smart move is to trade most of the guys this off season get some good young roster players or top prospects
Jets should trade off their top 4 & get some draft picks & prospects back. Inquire with Philly about Carter Hart & retool the team.
This group showed they can’t win. time to move on. Any team that pays a goalie even as talented as Hellebuyck is 8,9 10 million for five or more years is insane.
Helly and Scheifele to NJ for Vanecek and Bratt and a 3rd
lmao
Kings for prospects and picks makes obvious sense. It made more sense when Grans was still with the team.
Fagemo + Thomas + (Durzi or Spence) + 2 firsts and a third would fill the prospect cupboard
As the Jets I wouldn’t go the draft picks route with Hellebuyck and Dubois. They still have got Connor, Morrissey, Ehlers to build around, so looking for proven players in that age range might make sense. If they opt to trade Hellebuyck, Dubois or Wheeler for draft picks they’d better flip most of them soon.
Chevy screwed up by not getting ahead of one of these predictable problems during the past season – playoff race be damned. Now he has zero leverage on each missive.