Despite a plethora of rumours swirling around Winnipeg Jets’ goalie Connor Hellebuyck, things have been pretty quiet around the True North franchise lately. Unless GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, the tender’s agent Ray Petkau, and whatever NHL teams the Jets would have contacted to accommodate a trade request have been doing a stellar job from keeping that to themselves….I assume that this is largely driven by fan speculation deriving from Hellebuyck’s post-season frustrations and media that desperately needs things to write about when there isn’t any actual hockey being played. I could be wrong, but until there is some official word from either the goaltender or the team, I am assuming he will be back in between the pipes next season.
Yet, before we move on I might as well look at some of the teams the media & the fans are suggesting the 3 time Vezina Trophy winner could be shipped to. One unconfirmed report indicated that Hellebuyck was only willing to waive his No Movement Clause (NMC) for the Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights, & the Minnesota Wild….but since that is the exact same list that Dylan Larkin initially gave the Detroit Red Wings, I am guessing that is someone trying to push a “US Olympic Team” trying to playing together concept.
The Wild aren’t in a great position to trade for Bucky anyways, between the lack of a true need at the goalie position and the depleted prospect pool they have as a result of the Quinn Hughes acquisition. However, the Panthers are receiving a lot of attention in the media and on sites like PuckPedia. The offers proposed vary wildly, but a common theme seems to be Winnipeg insisting on center Anton Lundell & the 9th overall pick and the Cats’ GM not willing to go there so far. As a result, you often see forward Mackie Samoskevich and additional assets included instead. The Buffalo Sabres’ fans are very hungry after their club finally ended their playoff drought, so there are numerous trade proposals for Hellebuyck coming from this group. Again, the offers are everywhere from center Joshua Norris, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and multiple 1sts to defenseman Bowen Byram & a 2027 1st rounder. Other forwards like Ryan McLeod, Peyton Krebs, or Jack Quinn are substituted in at times as well.
The Vegas Golden Knights have just recently switched to off-season mode after losing the Stanley Cup to the Carolina Hurricanes, so there haven’t really be any offers suggested by the media there. It would certainly take some salary cap juggling for them to fit in Bucky….but if any team could do it, it would be the Knights. However, the latest Cup winners are also often suggested as a destination since they have plenty of cap space and had to turn to a young back up goalie to get by Vegas. How much belief does management have in Brandon Bussi? They do have plenty of assets to tempt Winnipeg too.
Part of the reason it is so difficult to nail down what Hellebuyck could fetch in a trade is because star goaltenders are seldom moved. And I mean seldomly. As far as I could see, there were a few moves that I figured could show the range….yet even they aren’t exact comparisons to Bucky. The first is over 20 years old, when the Vancouver Canucks acquired Roberto Luongo from the Florida Panthers for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld, & Byran Allen. Clearly Bertuzzi was the best piece for the Canucks, yet he hadn’t even really broken out when he was moved but did top out with a 97 point season. Luongo then was moved back to Florida with his albatross contract in 2014 for goalie Jacob Markstrom & Shawn Matthias. Once again, the best part of this deal wasn’t an established NHLer yet, though he did put up a .900%+ save percentage in two early campaigns. The final example I came across is when goalie Cory Schneider was moved from the Vancouver Canucks to the New Jersey Devils at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft for the 9th overall selection (Nucks ended up selecting Bo Horvat with the pick). Schneider had put up three straight .920%+ save percentages as a back up before being moved, so he showed a lot of promise but hadn’t actually taken over the starter’s reins yet.
None of these examples suggest the huge haul some Jets’ fans are expecting if Winnipeg does move on from their starting goalie. Yet I still have hope that Chevy will bring in a valuable piece or two if his hand is forced and he has to make a trade. While there are things you can complain about when it comes to Cheveldayoff’s performance at the top of the True North organization (mainly drafting & player development-wise, for me)…..he has done fairly well when players like Jacob Trouba, Patrik Laine, & Pierre-Luc Dubois forced their ways out. So I will give him the benefit of the doubt…..though with the news that Winnipeg’s owners are working on an extension for the GM, it doesn’t sound like the NHL’s longest serving General Manager is going anywhere anyways.
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The Jets’ front office hasn’t been completely inactive since they were ousted from the playoffs, as they have inked a few role players in winger Cole Koepke ($1.45M @ 2 yrs), winger Walker Duehr ($875k @ 2 yrs), & goalie Isaac Poulter ($850k @ 1 yr).
News reports indicate that they have started contract renewal negotiations with RFA Cole Perfetti, yet the two parties are said to be far apart. Whether that is in terms of dollar amount or length of contract was not reported…but it certainly has sparked a lot of other teams’ fans to make trade proposals for the young, and in my view, undervalued winger.
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Another piece of news from the True North universe is that Jonathan Toews has officially called an end to his 17 year NHL career by announcing his retirement. Starting off as a rookie in the 2007-08 campaign, the Canadian led the Chicago Blackhawks to years of success before the later part of his career was impacted by a medical condition. After missing 2 complete seasons, Toews launched a comeback in his hometown city and while he proved that he was durable enough for the daily grinds of NHL life….his legs weren’t up to the pace anymore. I really wish his return to the Peg would have went better….but regardless of how this year played out for the club and the veteran, I will applaud a Hall of Fame worthy career coming to a conclusion.
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With the 2026 NHL Entry Draft nearing, here are what some of the “experts” have been predicting for the Winnipeg Jets at the #8 position:
- Craig Button, TSN, May 5: Tynan Lawrence
- Chris Peters, Flo Hockey, May 5: Daxon Rudolph
- Cam Robinson, Elite Prospects, May 6: Viggo Björck
- Scott Wheeler, The Athletic, May 7: Tynan Lawrence
- Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff, May 6: Alberts Šmits
- NHL scouts and executives, polled by The Athletic, May 25: Daxon Rudolph
- Max Bultman, The Athletic, May 27: Viggo Björck
- Corey Pronman, The Athletic, June 1: Alberts Šmits
Jets’ Scouting Director Mark Hillier has frequently cited the philosophy of “best player available” and I am not sure there will be forward there for Winnipeg to draft at #8 that can outshine some of the defensive prospects. While both Viggo Bjorck & Tynan Lawrence have 2nd line center potential, there are areas of concern in both skaters’ games.
Out of the two defenders selected by the above “experts“, I think Alberts Smits likely has the higher ceiling but personally I am more a fan of Daxon Rudolph’s overall game. While the Jets do have a couple prospects already in the pool that have top 4 potential in Elias Salomonsson & Sascha Boumedienne, I don’t think that should stop them from adding another one in the 1st round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Guess we will see who Winnipeg’s head scout views as the “best player available” when their name is called on this Friday (June 26th).
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Well, that is about all I have. Just wanted to get a new article up on the site to let you know that BOJA is still alive and well. Enjoy the sunshine everyone!!!