One of NHL's top goalkeepers secures exchange after strike
Connor Hellebike demanded an exchange and did not show up for training camp before the start of this season. As a result, Winnipeg suspended him without saving his salary, and now traded to New Jersey for four players and two draft picks
The Winnipeg Jets traded in the New Jersey Devils American goalkeeper Connor Hellebike, a three-time winner of the Vezin Trophy, the prize for the best goalkeeper of the NHL season. This is reported on the club website.
In return, Winnipeg received three forwards, Canadian Dawson Mercer, Swede Alexander Command and American Nick Bugstad, Canadian goalkeeper Nico Dawes, as well as the right to choose in the seventh round of the 2027 NHL draft and in the second round in 2029.
Hellebike, 33, made his debut in the 2015/16 season for Winnipeg and spent his entire career in the NHL. He became a three-time winner of the “Vezin Trophy” (2020, 2024, 2025), and in 2025 also received the “Hart Trophy” – the prize for the most valuable player of the regular season. In the NHL, the goalkeeper has 625 games (345 wins), he averaged 2.58 goals and reflected 91.6% of shots.
In late August, Hellebike demanded an exchange from Winnipeg, and in mid-September, the club suspended him without saving his salary for not showing up for training camp. The goalkeeper's contract with an average salary of $8.5 million is valid until the end of the 2030/31 season.
As part of the US national team, Hellebike won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Italy and bronze at the 2015 World Cup.
