Trade Ideas for Connor Hellebuyck to NHL Contenders

From the moment the Winnipeg Jets 2025-26 season came to a disappointing end, going from the Presidents' Trophy to completely out of the playoffs, it was obvious that starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck was not happy with his current situation.

He voiced his frustration with the way the season went, while also casting doubt as to whether or not the franchise had the right people in place to build a serious Stanley Cup contender. Given that he is now into his mid-30s and getting closer to the end of his career, he has to know the clock is ticking when it comes to getting him a Stanley Cup ring.

After speculation about his future started to build, things finally reached a boiling point earlier this month when he hade his trade request official. 

Now that training camps are set to begin, Winnipeg has to deal with the possibility that Hellebuyck may not show up in an effort to further force the team's hands. 

A trade seems inevitable, and there are a handful of teams around the NHL that could not only use a top-tier goalie, but should also have some interest in him.

But it is not going to be a simple trade, and it may not result in the type of return Winnipeg fans (or the organization) might be hoping for. 

Why trading Connor Hellebuyck will not be easy

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This isn't as simple as just trading a star player and getting equal or comparable value back in return.

Hellebuyck is the most decorated American-born goalie ever, and one of the best goalies of his era. His list of accomplishments is significant, including three Vezina Trophies and an Olympic Gold Medal. He has consistently shown he can lift mediocre teams to a higher level they probably have no business reaching.

On the surface, every team in the league should want that.

But when you trade for a player, and try to piece together appropriate value, you are not trading for what that player did in the past, or what they did most recently. You are trading for what they will do in the future, their age, their injury history, their positional value, their contract and everything else that comes with the player. 

In Hellebuyck's case, you are talking about a 33-year-old goalie that is still owed $8.7 million against the cap per year for another five full seasons.

Do you trust him to still be that same goalie when he is 35 or 36? Or even this season? It is worth noting that, even with his Gold Medal winning performance at the Olympics, the 2025-26 regular season was the worst single season of his career. He posted a sub-.900 save percentage, was minus-0.4 goals saved above average (down from plus-41.6 the year before) and just 5.5 goals saved above expected (down from 39.6 the year before). 

Maybe some of that was the result of the environment around him. Maybe it was a fluke year. Maybe he's already played his best hockey.

There is also the reality that Hellebuyck holds a lot of the cards here and, even with the trade request, can dictate where he goes. He might be flexible with Winnipeg on that, but he can still veto anything he does not like. 

Goalie trade values are also a little tough to measure given the volatility of the position and how few truly elite players at the position get traded.

Just think about some of the more recent trades involving prominent goalies and what those returns looked like. 

Jacob Markstrom has been traded twice over the past few years. This offseason he went from New Jersey to Florida as a 36-year-old goalie with two years and $6 million per year remaining on his contract. He brought back Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Ben Steeves.

That came two years after he went from Calgary to Florida as a 34-year-old goalie, also with two years and $6 million per year remaining at the time of that trade. He went for defenseman Kevin Bahl and a first-round pick.

After the 2023-24 season the Boston Bruins traded Linus Ullmark, one year removed from a Vezina Trophy and coming off a dominant three-year run, for backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic and a first-round pick. Ullmark was 31 at the time and had two years remaining at $5 million per year remaining. It was mostly a salary dump trade for the Bruins.

Prior to the 2024-25 season a 27-year-old Logan Thompson went from Vegas to Washington for two draft picks (second-and third-rounders).

Young, and completely unproven goalies like Yaroslav Askarov and Sebastian Cossa have gone for returns centered around first-round picks

Hellebuyck is better than all of these guys, but he's also older than most of them, more expensive and requires a bigger (and riskier) financial investment.

All of that could be contributing to the reports that Winnipeg is not getting strong trade offers at the moment, while also wanting to focus on immediate help (including a goalie) to compete this season instead of futures.

So let's get into what some offers could look like, or what Winnipeg could be looking for in return.

Carolina Hurricanes

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The suggestion: Connor Hellebuyck to the Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman Alexander Nikishin (RFA), goalie  Pyotr Kochetkov and a first-round pick

Carolina doesn't need Hellebuyck.

Could it use him? Absolutely. Would he be a likely upgrade over Kochetkov and Brandon Bussi? Almost certainly.

But Carolina has proven on a pretty consistent basis that it does not need an elite goalie to contend for a Stanley Cup, or to even win it. It's done pretty well for itself by piecing together a cheap goalie tandem and keeping enough salary cap flexibility to build out the roster around it.

Even so, the potential to land a proven, star-level goalie would be a great addition that would make the defending Stanley Cup champions even better and give them a great chance at making a repeat run.

The problem with Carolina as a destination, and with this idea? While the Hurricanes have three first-round picks over the next two years (and four over the next three years), and a young, NHL defenseman in Nikishin that still has some upside, it doesn't really have any young, NHL-ready forward help that would help fill Winnipeg's biggest needs on the roster.

The Hurricanes would have the salary cap space to take on Hellebuyck's deal, especially if Nikishin were the centerpiece and removing their need to re-sign him to his desired price tag. You also have to imagine that Hellebuyck would be receptive to playing for a team that has already shown it can win a championship.

Carolina reportedly approached Winnipeg with an offer similar to this earlier in the offseason and was turned away. Perhaps something like that could be revisited now that we know for a fact that Hellebuyck wants out.

Vegas Golden Knights

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The suggestion: Connor Hellebuyck to Vegas for goalie Adin Hill, 2028 first-round pick, and forward Braeden Bowman

You have to figure Vegas is going to make itself a part of this discussion. Not only because goaltending was a major issue for much of the 2025-26 season, but also because the Golden Knights just love making blockbuster trades and swinging for the fences when a big-name player becomes available.

But like Carolina, it's just not necessarily a great match in terms of potential assets.

The Golden Knights do have a goalie to offer back in Hill, and it would help ease some of the salary cap burden to shed his $6 million salary cap hit in the coming years. While Hill is not Hellebuyck and does not possess his track record, and even though he is coming off a down year, he has been a league average, to even slightly above league average goalie for most of his Vegas tenure. You can compete with him, especially as part of a platoon.

Vegas has accumulated a couple of future first-round picks that are probably move valuable to it as trade chips, while Bowman is a 23-year-old forward coming off a solid rookie season. He just signed a long-term contract and probably projects as a bottom-six forward, but could still play his way into a second-line role.

It's not great, but it's probably the best that Vegas (and Winnipeg) could do between the two teams. Especially given all of the trade protections that Vegas' NHL forwards have and their potential ability to block a trade to Winnipeg. And even then that could be complicated with Hill who has limited trade protections in contract.

Bowman is one of the few prominent, and tradable, players on the roster that has no such protections.

New Jersey Devils

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The suggestion: Connor Hellebuyck to the New Jersey Devils for forward Dawson Mercer, goalie Jake Allen and a 2027 first-round pick 

The Devils have had a really strong offseason and added a ton of forward depth to their roster.

It also might be a little too much forward depth, and something might have to give.

Along with that, goaltending is the one big obvious weakness the roster still has, especially after moving Jacob Markstrom to Florida.

Hellebuyck could help take the Devils from fringe playoff team to serious playoff contender and fill a big need.

They have plenty of first-round draft pick capital, and some forward depth to deal from, including the 24-year-old Mercer whose name has surfaced in trade speculation before.

He's not a star, but he's a 20-goal scorer that can play a variety of different roles and that has proven to be incredibly durable, having appeared in all 82 games in every season of his career. He makes $4 million this season, is a restricted free agent after this season and would then be eligible for unrestricted free agency without a new deal following the 2027-28 season.

Buffalo Sabres

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The suggestion: Connor Hellebuyck to the Buffalo Sabres for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and forward Jack Quinn

Buffalo seems like the most obvious destination, and there were reportedly talks around the draft that centered around the No. 4 and 8 overall picks. Obviously, nothing came together at that point.

Goaltending was actually a surprisingly strong development for the Sabres in 2025-26, and it played a big role in the Sabres turning their season around and ending their 14-year playoff drought. The question is whether or not their goalies can repeat it and play at that level again. They might want somebody that is a little more proven and a little more consistent.

Luukkonen is really hit-and-miss on a year-to-year basis, alternating strong years and bad years. He can be a very good NHL goalie, but you never really know which version of him is going to show up. Winnipeg might be able to make him work as part of a platoon with Skinner, while moving his contract would help open up salary cap space for a Hellebuyck addition.

Quinn would be the young forward help Winnipeg would be looking to add, and he might be the best and most attainable NHL-caliber player that any of these teams might be able to offer. Buffalo might also have the forward depth to make him expendable.

He's 24 years old, has improved his offense every year he has been in the NHL and is coming off a 20-goal, 51-point season.

He has one year remaining on his current contract before becoming a restricted free agent.