The move Winnipeg made confirms Connor Hellebuyck will be traded
Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Fans are reading Eric Comrie's exit as proof Connor Hellebuyck is gone.
The Winnipeg timeline says that tell is backwards.
The Winnipeg Free Press framed it cleanly this month: Comrie leaving on July 1 was the sign Hellebuyck is on his way out.
"The writing is on the wall here in Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck is (almost certainly) moving on. That became apparent on July 1 when the Jets did not re-sign his personal security blanket, Eric Comrie."
- Mike McIntyre
- Mike McIntyre
It's a tidy story. It also gets the order of events wrong.
The Winnipeg Jets signed Stuart Skinner around 1:30 p.m. Eastern on July 1. Eric Comrie didn't sign in San Jose until that evening.
So Comrie didn't walk because the crease was clearing for a Hellebuyck trade. He walked because Winnipeg had just handed the backup job to a former Edmonton starter, leaving no room for him.
Comrie's exit is a consequence, not a signal
That distinction matters. Reading Hellebuyck's future off Comrie's departure treats a lagging effect as a leading indicator.
The Skinner move is the one worth parsing, and even it is softer than the panic suggests. Darren Dreger called it insurance, not confirmation, and said a Hellebuyck trade isn't imminent.
Skinner posted a career .888 save percentage last season split between Edmonton and Pittsburgh, and went 0-3 in the playoffs. That's a safety net, not a designated heir.
The real variable sits in the contract
Here's what actually decides this.
Hellebuyck holds a full no-movement clause that doesn't soften to a 10-team list until next July.
No depth signing overrides that.
He picks his destination, or he stays a Jet, regardless of who backs him up.
David Pagnotta reported this week that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will hold unless a return clears his bar.
That's the number to watch, not the backup shuffle.
For anyone tracking Hellebuyck to Buffalo, New Jersey, or Colorado, the signal isn't Comrie's new address. It's the no-move clause and the price Cheveldayoff sets.
Until one of those moves, the Comrie headlines are noise.
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