Winnipeg Jets goalie wants to be traded if the Jets decided to go a certain route

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Joshua Deeds
May 20, 2022 (8:35)

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The Winnipeg Jets didn't win the Barry Trotz contest it seems, as a coveted Head Coach, it may be a positive for the Jet's netminder.

Connor Hellebuyck signed a six-year, $37 million dollar contract with the team on July 12, 2018, with an AAV of $6.167 million and it was recently reported by Elliott Friedman that he is actually okay with staying in Winnipeg, as long as the Jets don't go into re-build mode.

Hellebuyck posted a career-worst 2.97 GAA in 66 games this season and failed to reach the 30-win mark for the second straight year.

Even with 4 shutouts and a .910 SV%, it goes to show, that even a great goalie can't do all the heavy lifting for a squad like the Jets. His best season to date was 2017-2018 with a .924 SV% and 44 wins out of 67 games played.

Connor Hellebuyck has been and still is one of the best goaltenders on the planet. But he has had a less than Hellebuyck-type season. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been stellar as he has been in the past few seasons. In his defense, he has been overworked, coming off a recent stretch where he started in 13 consecutive games and has made some mental errors that have cost the team some momentum and potential points.

In all fairness, the offense has been woefully inadequate, as both Hellebuyck and Comrie have gone above and beyond what has been asked of them this year.

So for an offense that only put up 89 points in a tough division like the Central, a rebuild is a terrible idea, maybe a re-tooling of certain lines and players needs to happen, move Lowry, Appleton and Vesalainen for some picks if possible and allow Perfetti space to develop if Schiefle does end up leaving, which should also bring in a substantial return with assets and picks.

So in reality, Hellebuyck is right to say "If you rebuild I'm gone", now the ball is in Cheveldayoff's court.