Will Connor Hellebuyck be traded before the season or throughout the season?
One in every of the more disappointing teams last season was the Winnipeg Jets. Through the 2024-25 season, the Winnipeg Jets won the Presidents Trophy, led by Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
Unfortunately, his regular-season success didn’t carry over into the playoffs, and he bowed out within the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs after narrowly escaping a first-round series with the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 in additional time. Nonetheless, that success from 24-25 didn’t carry over into the 2025-26 season.
NHL Rumors: Where the Winnipeg Jets are at with Connor Hellebuyck
Hellebuyck missed time due to knee surgery, but showed he could deliver within the highlight moment, helping Team USA win the Gold Medal on the 2026 Olympics. That gold medal game performance was among the finest games of his profession. After tasting success, Hellebuyck wants more. That’s the value for winning and having a winner’s mindset.
Nonetheless, Hellebuyck was a part of the issue when the Winnipeg Jets crumbled down the stretch of the season. Each time the Jets got close, they faltered. Ultimately, Winnipeg finished with 82 points, seventh within the Central Division and twelfth within the Western Conference.
But given the Jets’ run to the Western Conference Final was back in 2018, Hellebuyck sees their window closing and needs a likelihood to win elsewhere. His comments about complacency and having to pay more to sign players or keep players in Winnipeg raised a number of eyebrows. Hellebuyck isn’t unsuitable about what he said, however it put Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on the clock to enhance the team.
The player may or may not have even put the team on the clock by asking for a trade. And the Jets were near trading him before July 1st. Winnipeg spoke to the Buffalo Sabres on the 2026 NHL Draft. Nonetheless, Winnipeg wasn’t willing to provide up the eighth overall pick as a part of the trade, so the reported deal fell apart.
NHL Rumors: When Do the Connor Hellebuyck and Dylan Larkin Trades Occur?
The Jets talked to other teams just like the Florida Panthers, Recent Jersey Devils, and Carolina Hurricanes, but Florida and Carolina didn’t have the pieces. The Panthers moved on to Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid, while the Hurricanes are sticking with Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov. Meanwhile, some aren’t sure if Hellebuyck is a Sunny Mehta guy.
Nonetheless, the rumors surrounding a Hellebuyck trade won’t go away. As Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com and Full Press Hockey was asked on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, will Connor Hellebuyck make it through the season as a member of the Winnipeg Jets?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “And is it Hellebuyck even there, Jim? I do know we’re guessing, but that’s what we do on Sports Talk Radio. We speculate. So speculate: Is he a Jet after we get to the playoffs?”
Jim Biringer: “No, I don’t think he’s a Jet to be honest. I don’t think he’s going to be a Jet to start the season. I feel they’re gonna discover a way.”
Host: “Oh, okay, okay.”
Has Connor Hellebuyck played his last game for the Winnipeg Jets?
Biringer: “I feel they’re going to determine a option to make this occur because I feel unless you’re going to have a heart-to-heart with him, I don’t think the moves they made are enough to say, ‘Hey, come on back and take a look at again.’ I feel he desires to go win. I’m just unsure the Winnipeg Jets are a playoff team.”
While it’s the dog days of the offseason, we’ve got seen trades in the course of the summer before training camp. Simply because it’s all quiet on the Western Front doesn’t mean things aren’t being discussed. However the asking price is high for Connor Hellebuyck for any team trying to amass him from the Winnipeg Jets.
It’s value maintaining a tally of, as one phone call can change all the pieces.
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