Winnipeg Jets
Ehlers Made the Right Choice: “A Lot of Noise Around Hellebuyck,” Says Insider Amidst Trade Chatter
With Nikolaj Ehlers proving the jump from Winnipeg was the right choice, there’s suddenly a lot more noise around Connor Hellebuyck.
On the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman said it’s time to grind in on what’s happening out there in trades. Now that the Stanley Cup Final ended, focus shifted to the draft, free agency, and trades. “Nothing right now, but we’ll grind away this week,” Friedman said. One name to watch is Connor Hellebuyck out of Winnipeg. There’s unconfirmed talk that he’s asked for a trade.
Friedman noted no real news yet, but there is trade requests involving Dylan Larkin and Darnell Nurse and says “there’s a lot of noise around Hellebuyck.”
He says he got a call from an NHL executive who was furious because all the trade info is getting out and they are trying to keep things quiet. GMs are fighting to keep things behind closed doors because they see the challenge of doing things are news breaks. The Connor Hellebuyck ‘quiet trade request’ might be part of that.
“There is a lot bubbling under the surface,” said Friedman, and an unsubstantiated report suggested he had given a small list to the Winnipeg Jets, with Florida, Tampa Bay, and Vegas as places he would accept a trade to. David Pagnotta also reported that teams had been calling the Jets about Hellebuyck. Following his remarks at the end of the season, it was believed he wanted to chase a Stanley Cup and wasn’t sure that could happen in Winnipeg. If you look at Nikolaj Ehlers, Hellebuyck now has a perfect example of what can happen.
Like Ehlers, Hellebuyck wanted to win with the Jets, but after a rough season, his tune started to change.
Where Would a Hellebuyck Trade Take the Superstar Goalie?
Florida makes sense as Sergei Bobrovsky might test free agency and the Panthers will try to get back into contention. The Golden Knights will look to get back to the Final, but goaltending is a question mark given how up-and-down Carter Hart‘s play was. Could they move Adin Hill to make room for Hellebuyck? Tampa Bay makes the least sense, given that they have Andrei Vasilevskiy for two more seasons. New Jersey has been talked about, with Jacob Markstrom now out there on the market.
It will be interesting to see whether any established reporters beyond Friedman’s weigh in on the situation in the coming weeks.
Next: Oilers, Tortorella, and an Interesting Rumor That “Hasn’t Gone Away”
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