The Winnipeg Jets will have to move Connor Hellebuyck as some point. Four teams that could be fits for Hellebuyck are …
NHL Network: Who would be the best fit for Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck? Mike Johnson thinks the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes could make sense, with Mike Rupp thinking Utah Mammoth and New Jersey Devils could also make sense.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Tony Luftman: “Remember at the start of the show, we talked about things happening. The Winnipeg Jets have released a statement. We get to this. It says:
“Connor has been open with us about his desire for a change. He has been an important part of the Winnipeg Jets organization for many years, and we have tremendous respect for what he has accomplished here. While we continue to work through the situation in a thoughtful manner, there is no update at this time.” – Kevin Cheveldayoff.”
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Oh, this feels burning. This feels as the world turns.”
Mike Johnson: “What do you do if you’re Cheveldayoff? I mean, that’s all you can do, right, Rupper? Like, what other option you have without a trade on the table?”
Mike Rupp: “At the end of the day, and we’ve talked about this, and I know there’s different sides of it that people will argue and saying, well, teams can trade you at any point, so players should be able to do this, and that-that’s a fair argument. Connor Hellebuyck controls everything, So you have to.
And they’re, you know, Kevin Cheveldayoff, and he runs a class organization the way he does business. You have to, you have to, you can’t say too much. It’s just, I’m sure there’s disappointment. I’m sure there’s, but it’s just we’re trying to navigate through these kind of murky waters right now and and try to figure it out because at the end of the day, you don’t want to come out with a scathing statement.”
Johnson: “Got to keep it cordial.”
Rupp: “You got to keep it cordial because then Connor Hellebuyck’s, ‘Oh, all right, here we go. Here’s the one team you’re going to trade me to. Now I’m going to publicly say that.”
Johnson: “I’m going to Florida and Florida only.”
Rupp: “Let’s see what you get.”
Johnson: “Yeah, go ahead and try to trade me.”
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Rupp: “Now you’re not going to get anything on the return.”
Lufman: “Yes. So what’s the best fit, Johnny, when you think about 31 other teams?
I mean, Florida would be actually a pretty good fit for him, now to think of it. But I think there’s two that stand out that seem plausible, not just a good fit, but maybe something that could work.
One, the Buffalo Sabers. The Buffalo Sabers had such a fantastic year last year. Have a lot of young talent, have goaltending that was surprisingly effective at times, but not necessarily guaranteed. You give Hellebuyck into Buffalo, they might be the favorite in the Atlantic.
Like I mean, they’re, they’re that talented up front in their defense as well. So I think Buffalo makes sense. They have, I mean, they have Josh Norris, they have Jack Quinn, they have Yuri Kulich, they have, they have Konsta Helenius. They have UPL because Winnipeg’s probably going to need a goaltender coming back the other way with some term on his contract. They have a whole bunch of guys that fit the mold of the kind of return Winnipeg needs. Young players that can be around or guys under contract that will stay around.
So that’s one, Rupper, and the other one for me, Carolina Hurricanes. They’ve been relatively quiet. Now, they are not traditionally a team that overspends, as you can see, on the goaltending position. But at $8.5 (million) in today’s NHL, that’s not overspending anymore. That’s actually pretty reasonable for a guy who’s as good as it gets.
Connor Hellebuyck Goes Public With His Trade Request
Could you imagine him in that system playing behind that team? His goals against would be one and a half. So I think those two teams stand out as guys, teams that would be pretty interested and might be able to pull it off.”
Rupp: “The the one that jumps out to me there is Utah. I think Utah could be one that could make a lot of sense in a lot of different ways. An up and coming team. A team that you know would certainly in most teams would be better play, in a better place with Connor Hellebuyck as their backstop.
The other one would be, hang with me, New Jersey. But here’s where it gets a little delicate.
Luftman: “Yeah.”
Rupp: “Is you’ve got a little bit of cap space there, not a ton of assets as far as prospects. You’ve got some, some good ones, but there’s another.”
Luftman: “What about Quinn Hughes.”
Rupp: “There’s another situation out there. There’s another situation you have to, you kind of got to save your bullets for it. So like I don’t know if that will hold up a situation like this. Maybe not. Maybe this is something where Sunny Mehta is moving forward and wants to, you don’t get many opportunities adding a guy like this.
So, I’m sure that phone is being picked up by multiple teams, including New Jersey, just to kind of see what that asking price is.
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