Kevin Cheveldayoff confirms new Connor Hellebuyck private trade request details after camp suspension

Kevin Cheveldayoff finally said the quiet part out loud.

For months the Jets GM dodged every question about whether Connor Hellebuyck actually asked out of Winnipeg, always falling back on the line that what happens in exit meetings stays private.

That changed this week.

Cheveldayoff confirmed the goaltender did request a trade during his exit meeting back in the spring and specifically asked the organization to keep it out of the public eye while both sides quietly worked toward a resolution behind the scenes.

That request for privacy made sense back in the spring.

Hellebuyck wanted a graceful, dignified exit, not a summer long saga playing out on sports talk radio.

It stopped making sense once training camp officially opened this week and he simply did not show up for a single team activity.

Reporter Danielle Bain broke down how the admission landed with a Jets fan base already bracing for a messy goodbye.

Hellebuyck skipped the team golf outing and every camp function since, forcing Winnipeg's hand in a way months of private negotiating never could.

The organization responded by suspending him for failing to report, a significant move Cheveldayoff had to explain to a room full of reporters just hours later.

The suspension does not solve anything on its own.

It just adds leverage and urgency to trade talks that have dragged since June.

Stuart Skinner and Eric Comrie remain the only healthy bodies in net for a team opening the regular season in under two weeks, and Cheveldayoff still has not found the return he wants for a three time Vezina winner.

Expect calls to intensify fast now that the sides are officially airing things out in public.

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