Jets trade disgruntled star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to New Jersey

“This was about who had the legitimate need,” Cheveldayoff said. “When you get into a situation like that, that’s who you’re dealing with. You can’t manufacture it.”

“A lot of teams that had their No. 1 goalie locked in, I heard from a lot of their managers that said ‘Hang in there, I feel for you buddy,'” he added.

Hellebuyck joins a list of American stars who have forced their way off of Canadian teams. That includes former Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who was serenaded with full-throated boos and taunts when he made his return to Ottawa on Wednesday as a member of the Florida Panthers.

Whether Hellebuyck receives similar treatment in his eventual return remains to be seen, but Cheveldayoff said he will concentrate on the good times.

“He was a big part of our familty, and we accomplished some pretty good things,” Cheveldayoff said. “Those memories are going to be the same.

“Obviously we live in the moment and we tend to stress over the future, but I think we fail to realize we had some pretty damn good team here the last couple of years.”

Hellebuyck is under contract through 2031 at a salary cap hit of US$8.5 million after he signed an seven-year, $59.5 million extension with Winnipeg in October 2023.

A three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top netminder, Hellebuyck will get a fresh start following a difficult, playoff-less campaign in the Manitoba capital after the club won the Presidents’ Trophy for registering the league’s best record in 2024-25.

The 33-year-old went 23-23-11 last season, including four shutouts, with an .895 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average, but also backstopped the United States to a gold-medal victory over Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Hellebuyck, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP two seasons ago, owns a career record of 354-208-55 across 625 regular-season games with a .916 save percentage, 2.58 GAA and 45 shutouts.

The 130th pick at the 2012 NHL draft from Commerce, Mich., is 24-34 in the playoffs with a .903 save percentage, 2.90 GAA and five shutouts.

Since entering the league in 2015-16, Hellebuyck has faced 1,438 more shots than the next closest goaltender.

His best statistical season came back in that banner 2024-25 season when he went 47-12-3 with a .925 save percentage, a 2.00 GAA and an NHL-best eight shutouts.

The Jets are 4-3-3 without Hellebuyck so far this season after dropping their fourth game in a row Thursday night in a 3-2 overtime defeat at Dallas. All four losses have been by one goal.

Former Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner has carried the bulk of the load in goal for the Jets this season. He has a 3-1-3 record with a 2.67 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Backup Clay Stevenson has posted a 1-2-0 record with a 3.08 GAA and .893 save percentage.

Mercer has four assists in 10 games this season. The 24-year-old from Carbonear, N.L., was selected 18th overall by New Jersey at the 2020 NHL draft and recorded 213 points (103 goals, 110 assists) in 420 regular-season games.

He helped Canada win gold at the 2020 world junior championship and silver at the 2021 world juniors and 2022 world championship.

Command, 18, was New Jersey’s first-round pick (12th overall) in the 2026 draft, and he has played six games for Orebro HK in the Swedish League this season.

The Stockholm native won a gold medal with Sweden at the 2026 world U-18 championship, where he had three goals and four assists in seven games.

Daws, 25, has played four games for the Devils this season and posted a 2-2-0 record with a 2.78 goals-against average and .874 save percentage.

The native of Munich, Germany, was New Jersey’s third-round pick (84th overall) in 2020 and has a 26-26-1 record with a shutout in 59 career NHL games.

Daws represents Canada internationally and was a teammate of Mercer’s on the 2020 world junior team.

Bjugstad, 34, is currently recovering from pectoral surgery in September, with a recovery time of four to six months. The well-travelled veteran from Blaine, Minn., has 339 points (163 goals, 176 assists) and 377 penalty minutes over 821 career games with Florida, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Arizona, Edmonton, Utah, St. Louis and New Jersey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2036.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Jets trade disgruntled star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to New Jersey

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