Mike McIntyre: (on Hellebuyck’s comments) “The anger. The emotion. The pause. The body language. The words — spoken and unspoken. All of it points to something larger. Buckle up, folks. The #NHLJets could have a significant Connor Hellebuyck problem on their hands.”
Here’s the video of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck being asked if this #NHLJets season will cause him to re-evaluate his future, pausing for ~7 seconds, after which entering into his full answer: pic.twitter.com/Zjr1sLbmnn
— Connor Hrabchak (@ConnorHrabchak1) April 17, 2026
NHL Injuries: Hurricanes, Stars, Wild, Canadiens, Rangers, Senators, Lightning, and Golden Knights
Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press: The 33-year-old Hellebuyck has five years left on his contract at $8.5 million. He missed three weeks back in November after having knee surgery.
He won a gold medal with Team USA on the Olympics, but his NHL numbers were down: a 23-23-11 record, 2.86 goals-against average, and a .895 save percentage in 57 games. Hellebuyck said his game wasn’t any different.
“There’s no secret we weren’t the fastest team within the league,” he said. “There’s lots of screens and lots of things that happened that I had no control over.”
The considered trading Hellebuyck probably wasn’t on the mind of any Jets management before. In the event that they were to make him available, there would definitely be a bidding war for him. The Jets have been in a “win now” mode, so the thought of trading their all-star goalie would mean a shift in plans.
Has the frustration boiled over or will things cool down? Hellebuyck desires to see change, but how deep will the changes go?
“I’m not going to only sit here and throw every guy under the bus because, truthfully, I’m a goalie and I do know goaltending rather well. I can’t say this forward did this and that defence did that. That’s not my spot. But to only put that very same product on the ice, I don’t think it worked for a reason.”
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An inventory of offseason priorities for the Winnipeg Jets
Murat Ates of The Athletic: (written before Hellebuyck’s comments) The Winnipeg Jets have foundational pieces in Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey, but their roster has obvious weaknesses that they’ll look to handle this offseason. An inventory of seven of their top offseason priorities.
1. Review Kevin Cheveldayoff’s recent track record
2. Resolve how the Winnipeg Jets are imagined to construct a winning team
3. Develop a greater plan for player development, Manitoba Moose
4. Discover a path to the Jets’ next great second and third lines – Their middle-six had trouble scoring. Have to take the burden off of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. They finally need to seek out a No. 2 center.
5. Determine whether Scott Arniel continues to be the precise head coach
6. Elevate Winnipeg’s analytical investment to match that of top teams
7. Re-sign RFAs Cole Perfetti and Isak Rosen, plus UFA Cole Koepke if you happen to can
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