Trade Ideas for Connor Hellebuyck to NHL Contenders

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

He voiced his frustration with how the season went, while also casting doubt on whether the franchise had the right people in place to build a serious Stanley Cup contender. Given that he is now in his mid-30s and getting closer to the end of his career, he has to know the clock is ticking on getting him a Stanley Cup ring.

After speculation about his future began to build, things finally reached a boiling point earlier this month when his trade request was made official. 

Now that training camps are set to begin, Winnipeg has to contend with the possibility that Hellebuyck may not show up, further forcing the team's hand. 

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

But it is not going to be a simple trade, and it may not yield the kind of return Winnipeg fans (or the organization) are hoping for. 

Why Trading 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 most recently. You are trading for what they will do in the future, their age, injury history, positional value, contract, and everything else that comes with the player. 

In Hellebuyck's case, you are talking about a 33-year-old goalie who still has $8.7 million in cap space owed 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 -0.4 goals saved above average (down from +41.6 the year before), and had 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 position's volatility and how few truly elite goalies 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 moved from Calgary to Florida as a 34-year-old goalie, with two years and $6 million per year remaining on the contract at the time of the 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 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 rather than on 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 trade: 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 even to 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, landing a proven, star-level goalie would be a great addition that would make the defending Stanley Cup champions even better and give them a strong chance at 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 who still has upside, they don't really have any young, NHL-ready forward help to address Winnipeg's biggest roster needs. At least not any that it would be willing to trade.

The Hurricanes would have the salary cap space to take on Hellebuyck's deal, especially if Nikishin were the centerpiece, removing their need to re-sign him at 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 trade: Connor Hellebuyck to Vegas for goalie Adin Hill, a 2028 first-round pick, and forward Braeden Bowman

You have to figure that 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 by shedding 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 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 more 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 is likely projected 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 his contract.

Bowman is one of the few prominent and tradable players on the roster who have no such protections.

New Jersey Devils

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The trade: 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 depth on the forward side 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 a fringe playoff team to a serious playoff contender while filling a major 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 who can play a variety of roles and has proven 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 trade: 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 on the No. 4 and No. 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 who is a little more proven and a little more consistent.

Luukkonen is really a hit-or-miss player year to year, alternating between strong and bad years. He can be a very good NHL goalie, but you never really know which version of him will 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 any of these teams could offer. Buffalo might also have the forward depth to make him expendable.

He's 24 years old, has improved his offense every year 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.