Trade reportedly falls apart involving Connor Hellebuyck and a division rival
Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Colorado's flirtation with Connor Hellebuyck ended on a question no cap sheet can answer.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on the season finale of 32 Thoughts that rival executives suspected the Colorado Avalanche considered a run at the Winnipeg Jets goaltender.
He could not explain how it would work.
Re Connor Hellebuyck/Avalanche: "I don't know how that could work, I don't know what they would offer, and I'm not sure that Winnipeg would wanna see that, but there were a couple teams...kinda suspected the Avalanche considered it."
- Elliotte Friedman
- Elliotte Friedman
The Denver math is genuinely ugly. Colorado holds roughly $400,000 in space per PuckPedia, and Hellebuyck's $8.5 million cap hit runs five more years.
But money never stopped the Buffalo Sabres, who reportedly built an offer around the fourth overall pick and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Kevin Cheveldayoff said no anyway.
The asset Winnipeg never has to trade
On July 1, the Jets signed Stuart Skinner for two years at $3.75 million annually. Skinner has posted a save percentage under .900 in each of his last three seasons.
Cheveldayoff, explaining the move, pointed to goaltending coach Wade Flaherty. Laurent Brossoit and Eric Comrie both produced the best hockey of their careers in that same crease.
Hellebuyck did too. His three Vezina Trophies and his 2025 Hart Trophy were all earned inside Flaherty's system.
What every buyer is quietly pricing
Then came last season: 57 games, a 2.86 goals-against average, a .895 save percentage, and a Jets team that finished 35-35-12 and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So the real question for the Avalanche, the Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes was never affordability.
It was whether the elite version of Hellebuyck travels, or whether some meaningful part of him stays in Manitoba.
Watch what happens if Skinner posts a .905 behind Winnipeg's defense this season.
Flaherty's fingerprints become the story, and Hellebuyck's leverage shrinks rather than grows.
Cheveldayoff is not stalling on price. He is waiting on proof, and so is everyone calling him.
Every club shopping for a franchise goaltender this summer is really shopping for a development environment.
That is the one thing Winnipeg cannot put in a trade package.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
Edmonton Oilers are under fire after former player comes forward with accusations
Edmonton Oilers are under fire after former player comes forward with accusations
Previously on House Of Hockey