Connor Hellebuyck’s long run as the face of Winnipeg’s crease is over. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner and 2024-25 Hart Trophy recipient was dealt to the New Jersey Devils on Friday, ending an 11-season stay with the Jets that finished amid a trade request, a missed training camp and a team suspension.
Devils land a franchise goaltender
New Jersey acquired Hellebuyck in a major package that sends forward Dawson Mercer, goaltender Nico Daws, forward Nick Bjugstad, the rights to prospect Alexander Command, New Jersey’s 2029 second-round pick and its 2027 seventh-round pick to Winnipeg.
Hellebuyck, 33, said he arrived energized by the change and eager to take on the responsibility New Jersey has placed in front of him.
“I’m excited to be playing hockey again,” he said at Prudential Center on Saturday. “This is a talented team, and they have brought me here for a particular role. I’m looking forward to doing that job, both on the ice and in the room.”
Devils general manager Sunny Mehta called it a landmark move for the organization, saying the club was thrilled to bring Hellebuyck aboard. Mehta said preliminary discussions with Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff had happened weeks earlier, but the negotiations accelerated sharply this week and came together in fewer than two days.
- Hellebuyck won the Vezina in 2019-20, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- He added the Hart Trophy in 2024-25 while helping Winnipeg capture the Presidents’ Trophy.
- That season, he posted a 47-12-3 record, a 2.00 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and eight shutouts over 63 appearances.
- He led the NHL in victories, goals-against average and shutouts.
- Hellebuyck became the eighth goaltender in League history to win both the Hart and Vezina in the same season.
He also backstopped the United States to Olympic gold in 2026, going 5-0 with a 1.18 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage across five starts.
New Jersey’s crease gets a needed reset
The Devils entered Saturday at 6-4-0, but their goaltending results had been uneven. New Jersey’s .876 team save percentage was tied with Anaheim for 23rd in the NHL before Hellebuyck joined the club.
Jake Allen had started six games and carried a 4-2-0 record, but his 3.15 goals-against average and .883 save percentage left room for improvement. Daws, dealt in the transaction, was 2-2-0 with a 2.78 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage in four starts.
There is not yet a firm date for Hellebuyck’s first Devils appearance. He has been skating in Michigan and believes he is physically close, though he wants time in full NHL practices before getting into a game.
“I’ve been working hard on the ice and feel prepared,” Hellebuyck said. “Getting into a full NHL practice, with the pace of an entire roster, matters. But at this stage of my career, I don’t expect the adjustment to take very long.”
The Devils will be in Winnipeg on Nov. 10, setting up an early return to the building Hellebuyck called home for more than a decade.
Jets turn the page after suspension
The deal was completed on the day Hellebuyck’s suspension was set to expire. Winnipeg had suspended him beginning Sept. 16 after he requested a trade during the offseason and did not report to training camp.
He is in the third year of the seven-year, $59.5 million contract he signed with the Jets on Oct. 9, 2023. The agreement carries an $8.5 million annual average value.
Winnipeg missed the playoffs last season, finishing seventh in the Central Division and ending eight points behind Los Angeles for the Western Conference’s second wild-card position. Hellebuyck went 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 57 starts. It was his lowest save percentage in 11 NHL seasons, and he did not record a shutout.
Still, his franchise record is substantial. Hellebuyck leaves as the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers leader in games played by a goalie, starts, wins and shutouts. Among franchise netminders with at least 80 games played, his .916 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average stand as the best marks.
| Jets/Thrashers franchise category | Hellebuyck total |
|---|---|
| Games played | 625 |
| Games started | 615 |
| Wins | 345 |
| Shutouts | 45 |
The Jets have begun the season 4-3-3 without him. Stuart Skinner, signed to a two-year, $7.5 million contract on July 1, is 3-1-3 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .912 save percentage through seven starts. Clay Stevenson, claimed from Washington on Sept. 28, is 1-2-0 with a 3.08 goals-against average and .893 save percentage in three starts.
Captain Adam Lowry said earlier this month that Winnipeg’s players had kept their attention on the roster in the room and the larger goal of building a Stanley Cup contender. Coach Scott Arniel echoed that outlook, saying his focus remained on preparing the 23 players available to win games rather than dwelling on who was absent.
What Winnipeg receives in the return
Mercer is the centerpiece among the players headed west. The 24-year-old center has four assists in 10 games this season and has reached the 20-goal mark three times in five completed NHL seasons. Last year, he produced 20 goals and 22 assists in 82 games.
- Mercer has played all 420 games available to him across six NHL seasons.
- He owns 103 goals, 110 assists and 213 points in his career.
- New Jersey selected him 18th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.
- Daws, 25, was a third-round pick in that same draft and has a 26-26-1 NHL record in 59 games, with a 2.94 goals-against average, .897 save percentage and one shutout.
- Bjugstad, 34, has not played this season because of an upper-body injury.
Bjugstad split last season between New Jersey and St. Louis after the Devils acquired him on Feb. 4. He had six goals and three assists in 61 games. Across 14 NHL seasons with New Jersey, St. Louis, Utah, Arizona, Edmonton, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Florida, he has 163 goals, 176 assists and 339 points in 821 games.
Command, the 12th pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, remains unsigned. The forward has seven goals and five assists in six junior games with Orebro in Sweden, while going without a point in six Swedish Hockey League appearances.
Winnipeg’s next game is a home outdoor date with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Sunday at Princess Auto Stadium. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV and HBO MAX.
It will be Winnipeg’s second NHL outdoor game. Hellebuyck was in net for the first one, making 29 saves in a 3-0 loss to Edmonton at the 2016 Heritage Classic, played in the same building when it was known as Investors Group Field.
For Hellebuyck, the focus has shifted quickly from an unsettled summer to a fresh challenge in New Jersey. “That’s what motivates me,” he said. “It’s a new challenge, and I’m excited by it.”
