The Connor Hellebuyck situation has moved well past uncomfortable for the Winnipeg Jets.
After asking for a trade and then not showing up to training camp, the Vezina and Hart Trophy winner was suspended by Winnipeg. The 33-year-old goalie, who also won Olympic gold, is now at the center of a deal that has yet to materialize because GM Kevin Cheveldayoff still hasn’t landed an offer he considers equal value.
Last week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Florida Panthers had interest in Hellebuyck, but the assets they were prepared to move were instead sent to Ottawa in the Brady Tkachuk deal and to New Jersey for Jacob Markstrom. Friedman and LeBrun also said the Buffalo Sabres, Utah Mammoth and Carolina Hurricanes remain in the hunt for the veteran netminder, who has five years left on his contract at $8.5 million per season.
Buffalo has been the club most closely linked to Hellebuyck, but even that route may be getting complicated. On this week’s 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said the Jets wanted the fourth overall pick Buffalo got in the Bowen Byram trade, and were unwilling to part with the eighth overall pick they used on Swedish forward Viggo Bjorck.
There’s another wrinkle, too. Friedman believes Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has placed Winnipeg on his five-team no-trade clause. Since the Jets want a goalie back in any Hellebuyck return, that could make Buffalo a tough fit and leave the Sabres as a longshot to land him.
In Other News...
Sabres Hit Serious Hellebuyck Trade Roadblock Over One Roster Concern
A potential Connor Hellebuyck deal was one of the more intriguing offseason ideas hanging around Buffalo, but it never got past the kind of medical due diligence that can stop a trade in its tracks. The holdup centered on a Sabres center, with concern over his health making Winnipeg pause before moving forward on a package that would have sent the reigning elite goalie to Buffalo.
For the Sabres, it is another reminder that big-game swings often come down to the small print as much as the talent involved. The path to Hellebuyck is not gone entirely, but the original offseason framework is no longer sitting there waiting to be revived, so any fresh conversation would have to be built around a very different kind of deal. [Read more 🡒]
Owen Power's Next Partner Could Shape Buffalo's Blue Line Plan
Olen Zellweger has already spent time in Sabres training camp and even got a look in an intra-squad scrimmage, with most of that work coming beside Owen Power. With Bowen Byram out of the picture, Buffalo is still sorting through how the rest of its blue line should settle in, and the early auditions suggest the coaching staff is giving a real look to a young defenseman who can move the puck and keep pace with a top-pair caliber partner.
Lindy Ruff has said the pairings are still open, with Zellweger, Louis Crevier and Conor Timmins all in the mix as Buffalo tries to sort out the second and third pairs. The top duo is expected to be Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, which only increases the importance of getting the next two pairs right, especially if Powers next partner ends up helping define the teams balance on the back end. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Have One Final Roster Battle Fans Need To Watch
The Sabres are set to open their four-game exhibition slate in Pittsburgh on Monday, with a morning practice at KeyBank Center serving as the final tune-up before the preseason begins. The roster shaping up for that first game figures to look a lot like the group that took part in the recent scrimmage, including what appears to be a fairly crowded blue line with seven defensemen and three goaltenders in the mix.
Even with much of the lineup taking shape, there are still a couple of situations worth watching as camp rolls on. Jason Zuckers status points toward an opening-night absence, while Jiri Kulich remains in a more uncertain spot after his lengthy time away, leaving the Sabres with at least one more battle to settle before the regular season picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]