Connor Hellebuyck's exit words explain the Jets' trade price
Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
A Connor Hellebuyck trade would reportedly cost a second-line center and a second-line winger.
That price is not greed - it is a confession.
David Pagnotta reported on Daily Faceoff's Rundown that if the Winnipeg Jets move Hellebuyck, they want both of those forwards, plus more, in return.
Re Jets: "They want a 2nd line center and they want a 2nd line winger; if they're moving Connor Hellebuyck, in a perfect world they're getting two of those pieces plus."
- David Pagnotta
- David Pagnotta
Read the shopping list against what Hellebuyck said in April, and it stops looking like a demand.
It starts looking like an admission.
"Can you get the pieces you need? Will players come? These are always questions in Winnipeg."
- Connor Hellebuyck
- Connor Hellebuyck
He added that most of the league does not view the city the way he does.
The price is a diagnosis, not a demand
The Jets have spent years chasing a second-line center and keep missing. They watched Charlie Coyle re-sign in Columbus this summer rather than sign one in free agency.
Their answer at the draft was Viggo Bjorck, a talented eighteen-year-old still under contract in Sweden who could play there again next season.
That is a bet on 2027, not a fix for now.
So Cheveldayoff is trying to buy the exact pieces Hellebuyck doubted Winnipeg could attract - using Hellebuyck himself as the currency.
The asking price simply names the two holes that have defined this roster.
Why Friedman's read raises the odds
Elliotte Friedman said this week he thinks it will be hard to convince Hellebuyck to stay.
"I don't know where this goes, but I think it's going to be hard to convince [Connor] Hellebuyck to stay."
- Elliotte Friedman
- Elliotte Friedman
That matters because Hellebuyck holds a full no-move clause on five remaining years. Once he wants out, the buyers shrink to contenders on his list who can also surrender ready-now forwards.
Buffalo and Carolina already called. Those are exactly the teams built to pay a price this steep, which is why it suddenly looks reachable.
Watch Bjorck in September. If he returns to Sweden, the Jets are still counting on a trade to fill center - and Pagnotta's price becomes the plan, not a wish.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
A big Danny Briere regret may have emerged regarding the Leo Carlsson offer sheet
A big Danny Briere regret may have emerged regarding the Leo Carlsson offer sheet