Since entering the league in the 2015-16 season, he’s first in total workload and fourth in save percentage (91.6 per cent).īut what’s remarkable in Hellebuyck’s resume is how dominant he’s been under routine pressure, playing behind perennially weak defensive teams in Winnipeg. Hellebuyck is an elite goaltender, rivalled only by a handful of peers (Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nashville’s Juuse Saros immediately come to mind). If we frame it as reward versus risk, we can frame how organizations are weighing a potential trade. What teams are ultimately weighing is the obvious reward of acquiring a player like Hellebuyck, and the downside potential in any deal – especially one where Hellebuyck is extended on a long-term deal. Some teams may be interested in a one-year rental for the league’s best goaltender, though I suspect the majority of suitors wouldn’t dream of such a significant trade without confidence in a long-term extension.Īnd then there’s the open question of how much a team may be willing to play a 30-year old goaltender with about 500 games of NHL mileage in the books. Hellebuyck is on a digestible $6.1-million contract through 2023-24, but will command an extraordinary raise at the end of the year. Chief among them is the complexity with this trade as it relates to his contract. The looming Hellebuyck trade is fascinating for several reasons. One of the outstanding deals we still anticipate happening is the trade of Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck – a premier puck-stopper in the National Hockey League, and a player coveted by virtually every team in the league. With the Detroit Red Wings acquiring Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators this weekend, the pool of available impact players – be it through trade or free agency – continues to dry up.īut that pool isn’t empty.
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