8 Landing Spots for Winnipeg Jets Goalie Connor Hellebuyck After Trade Request

The trade winds that have blown around Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck throughout the NHL offseason are a full-on hurricane now.

Via his agent Ray Petkau, Hellebuyck let it be known he requested a trade out of Winnipeg months ago. Although there has been strong speculation of Hellebuyck going to Buffalo around the NHL Draft in June, whatever leverage Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff may have had to get a trade done took a substantial hit.

With training camps opening in a matter of weeks, either a trade happens or things could get really awkward. To the Jets' credit, they're taking the high road through all this and keeping matters civil. In what's already, for sure, an anxious moment for the franchise, making things more difficult would've only lowered the offers coming in for Hellebuyck.

There are more than a few teams who could use a player like Hellebuyck and a couple of them who have been thrown into the mix already this offseason before his trade request went public. Although he has a full no-move clause and can essentially pick where he wants to go, we'll examine the lead contenders for one of the best goaltenders of this generation.

Of all the teams who can make the kind of offer needed to land Connor Hellebuyck, the Buffalo Sabres very well may have the most ammunition to make it happen.

Buffalo has three goaltenders with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and rookie Colten Ellis who played and performed well last season. Luukkonen and Lyon alternated leading the way and both played well while Ellis was able to spell them with occasional starts and stepped in when injuries or illness took them out of action.

Buffalo goalies were good (.900 team save percentage, third best in NHL), but they were also extremely busy (2,383 shots against, 10th most in league) which can put them in a precarious position. If they perform similarly then that's good, but any kind of dip in performance could throw the Sabres into the wild card race or worse. With Luukkonen now having limited no-trade protection, that would make him seemingly tougher to move now.

The Sabres also have young players the Jets would desire. Between Konsta Helenius, Noah Östlund and Zach Benson, Winnipeg would certainly want one of those forwards along with a prospect defender like Radim Mrtka, Adam Kleber or 2026 No. 4 pick Daxon Rudolph in a trade. A veteran who can score like Jack Quinn or Josh Norris would be a possibility, Norris has no-trade protection and Quinn can be a free agent next summer. With Hellebuyck's demand now public, the Jets demands may have to come down quite a bit.

When the Devils sent goalie Jacob Markström to the Florida Panthers in a trade this offseason, the question then fell upon them to answer who their No. 1 would be. While that was a bit insulting to incumbent starter Jake Allen, the question hasn't gone away and now with Connor Hellebuyck out there officially asking for a trade, the possibility of him going to the Devils has to be considered.

A few summers ago, the Devils and Jets were linked in trade rumors for Hellebuyck and ultimately nothing came of it other than Hellebuyck dominating in goal and winning awards while the Devils sorted through injuries and wildly up-and-down performances all around. If New Jersey is going to make a big splash for a member of the 2026 US Olympic team this summer, making a run at Hellebuyck and not Quinn Hughes makes a lot more sense.

New Jersey has NHL roster players they could use in a trade (Dawson Mercer, Arseny Gritsyuk) as well as prospects (Lenni Hämeenaho, Seamus Casey, Anton Silayev) and could move young goalie Nico Daws as well. Allen has a full no-trade clause and at 36 years old, him waiving to go to Winnipeg seems unlikely.

Of all the teams in the NHL that have needed great goaltending to take them over the top, the Oilers are at the top of the list. Subpar goalie play has hurt them countless times throughout Connor McDavid's career, but adding Connor Hellebuyck to the roster would go a long way to addressing that.

The idea of Hellebuyck playing with the Oilers is easy enough to put together, but the logistics behind making such a move happen and getting Hellebuyck's approval make it much more difficult. Edmonton lacks young, talented depth to bring the Jets to the table and there would still be the possibility that a goalie they could send to Winnipeg (Tristan Jarry in this case) would have the Jets on his no-trade list.

Many of the veterans the Oilers could move to the Jets and balance out a trade have no-trade or no-move clauses which only adds roadblocks to an already difficult trade. The odds are low of it being possible, but in our fantasy world where any trade can happen, putting Hellebuyck on a team with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sounds incredible.

Of the issues the Red Wings need to address, fixing goaltending is suddenly much lower on the list, but once a new GM is hired in Detroit, adding Connor Hellebuyck, a Michigan native, to the roster could go a long way to fixing another big problem with Dylan Larkin.

Although Larkin is eager to find a new team of his own, bringing Hellebuyck in to calm the waters and convince Larkin, his Olympic gold medal-winning teammate, to stay while helping the Red Wings' efforts to end the NHL's longest playoff drought. It could also be the kind of addition that turns Detroit's fortunes around 180-degrees after a quiet offseason of moves.

Although the Wings have John Gibson as their No. 1 goalie, he's set to become a free agent next summer. Hellebuyck is signed for five more seasons with an $8.5 million cap hit. Even if Gibson blocked a trade to Winnipeg, the Wings could put together a trade package to win the Jets over offering prospect goalie Trey Augustine among other young prospects currently in the NHL. There's a lot of wish-casting as well as "ifs and buts" to this, but Hellebuyck returning home to save the Red Wings would be a heck of a story.

It's not a trade speculation piece without throwing the Vegas Golden Knights into the discussion and with Olympic teammates Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin already there, it stands to reason they could get in the mix for Connor Hellebuyck.

Vegas is never a team to stay quiet in anything and after watching Carter Hart struggle mightily in the playoffs last year while Adin Hill, mysteriously, remained fixed on the bench, it stands to reason there may be an issue in goal. Whether Hill would waive his no-trade clause or the Jets would rather have Hart, the Jets have a goalie they could bring back. But that's a small part of how it could work compared to how Vegas could fit $8.5 million under the cap.

Most of Vegas' players with cap hits large enough to help balance money out have trade protection, be it full no-move clauses, full no-trade clauses or partial no-trade lists. Asking any of them to go from Vegas to Winnipeg would probably result in the answer we're all expecting, a firm, "No."

Vegas heart wants the start player, but the reality of their roster says it would be nigh impossible to land him.

Another team that likes to be in the middle of everything and has been a haven for star players from the US Olympic team is Florida. With Matthew and Brady Tkachuk holding it down, adding Connor Hellebuyck to the mix seems like it would make a lot of sense and help drive a brutal storyline that's developed since Brady landed there via trade from Ottawa.

The Panthers are great about being aggressive and taking advantage of teams in tough situations (Brady Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Seth Jones) and here the Jets are in one of their own with Hellebuyck. Making a deal for the goalie wouldn't be as easy to put together as previous ones.

For instance, they've already added Jacob Markström to play goal and while Florida wasn't on his no-trade list from New Jersey, it seems less likely Winnipeg would also be excluded. The Panthers have outright refused to include Anton Lundell in any trade and for good reason, he's an outstanding young, defensive forward. Although the Jets don't have as much leverage as they once did, if there's a way for Florida to win them over, including Lundell would put them to the front of the queue.

But Florida isn't the kind of team to overpay when they've got an advantage, and with the Jets in a bit of a desperate situation to move Hellebuyck, finding a way to make a trade while also making the best and least-roster upsetting offer seems tricky.

We've been watching the rise of the Sharks the past two seasons and with Macklin Celebrini becoming a bonafide superstar in front of our eyes, they're poised to make the playoffs for years to come. A great way to help make that happen could be to be aggressive and acquire Connor Hellebuyck.

The Sharks have a cadre of young prospects with varying levels of pro experience to make any offer attractive to Winnipeg. While they're probably not going to move Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa, Ivar Stenberg or Sam Dickinson, there are plenty of other young prospects to attract the Jets, including young goalie Yaroslav Askarov.

Then again, if the Sharks wanted to assure themselves of landing Hellebuyck, any of those other top prospects would get the job done instantly. That said, Sharks GM Mike Grier has made a habit out of winning trades and not giving up the house the past couple years either.

While teams like the Sharks are surging to roar out of their rebuild, the Blackhawks are struggling to do the same. But if Chicago wanted to hammer it home that they've got a plan and they're going to get back to the postseason sooner than later, adding Connor Hellebuyck would send that message.

With Connor Bedard leading the way, Chicago has a young core they added veterans to this summer with Bowen Byram and bringing back Patrick Kane. With Anton Frondell, Frank Nazar and Artyom Levshunov teaming with Bedard, their future star group seems set. They've also got a load of other young prospects with Oliver Moore, Roman Kantserov, Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel to whet Winnipeg's appetite.

The Jets would ideally want a goalie in return and with Spencer Knight coming off a strong season and without trade protection, he'd be an ideal replacement for Winnipeg to build around.