Connor Hellebuyck Informs Jets He Won’t Sign Extension

Connor Hellebuyck Informs Jets He Won’t Sign Extension

The Winnipeg Jets franchise continues to prove each and every day that they are irrelevant. Can’t they just change their name to the Canadian Leafs already? The offseason hasn’t even started yet and this team has taken a straight sledge hammer to the face. A rebuild is coming and there is no surprise anymore. Connor Hellebuyck has informed the team that he will not sign an extension in Winnipeg.

VIA The Athletic report (subscription link) don’t click:

“Then there’s Connor Hellebuyck (No. 2 on the trade board 2.0) and Mark Scheifele (No. 3), both entering the last year of their deals. Odds are both are traded this summer. And there should be no confusion about whether Hellebuyck has interest in signing an extension in Winnipeg. That ship has sailed. His next contract will be with a new team.”

I guess the ship has sailed then. Hellebuyck already made it clear that he’s not interested in a rebuild. When Luc-Pierre Dubois requested a trade, it was only a matter of time before the former Vezina Trophy-winning goalie did the same. Well, technically Hellebuyck hasn’t requested a trade. He’s just giving them a chance to recoup the asset before it leaves for nothing the following season.

Hellebuyck, 30, is entering the final season of a six-year, $37 million contract he signed back in 2018. He’s going to get a big raise on his current $6,166,666 AAV. Still, the Jets netminder finished the season with the fourth lowest SV% in the league this past year (.920). This is a fantastic goalie. I’m just not sure how much you’re willing to pay him on his next deal let alone give up significant assets. Does that impact his trade value at all or is a team going to bite the bullet anyway knowing they get their hands on one of the best?

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