Buffalo’s search for a fix in net may not be over, and Connor Hellebuyck keeps sitting near the center of it.
The Sabres already made a real run at the Winnipeg Jets goalie before the 2026 NHL Draft, according to the reporting here, but the two sides never got across the finish line. Winnipeg wanted Buffalo’s No. 4 overall pick without giving up its own No. 8 selection, and the deal unraveled. Two months later, Hellebuyck is still in Winnipeg, and Buffalo still doesn’t have a clean answer in goal.
That uncertainty is exactly why Hellebuyck keeps popping up as such a natural fit for the Sabres. Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff just reinforced that point while naming the 2025 Hart Trophy winner as one of the league’s top MVP candidates again.
"Any [Winnipeg] turnaround would be fueled by a resurgent Hellebuyck campaign, which would put him squarely in the MVP race if he can get the Jets back into the postseason," Larkin wrote Tuesday. "We also might see Hellebuyck flourish on a new team if dealt; winning a Hart after a mid-season trade would be unlikely, but it has happened before, as Joe Thornton did it in 2005-06."
Whether Winnipeg is more open to moving the 33-year-old Olympic gold medalist now isn’t clear. But on paper, he still looks like the kind of goalie Buffalo has been missing.
The Sabres believe their young forward group can absorb the loss of Alex Tuch, who went to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade deal, and they’re counting on Olen Zellweger, Louis Crevier and Conor Timmins to handle the opening left by Bowen Byram. In goal, though, the picture remains messy.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis gave Buffalo a strong regular season as a trio, helping the team finish third in team save percentage at .907. But nobody seized the starting job, and head coach Lindy Ruff wound up shuffling his goaltenders in the playoffs. That didn’t solve anything.
A goalie with Hellebuyck’s resume would change that conversation fast. Even with his recent playoff line of an .870 save percentage in his last 23 starts, he would still be a clear upgrade for Buffalo.
The problem now is that the trade path is much harder than it looked in June.
Luukkonen was widely expected to be part of any Hellebuyck package, but he now has a five-team no-trade clause and can block a move to Winnipeg. Lyon and Ellis don’t carry nearly the same value. Josh Norris also now has a 10-team no-trade list, another wrinkle if the Jets are looking for forwards in return.
Then there are the picks. Buffalo entered this year’s draft with Nos. 4 and 20, and there was plenty of talk that one or both could be moved in a win-now deal. Instead, the Sabres kept both selections and used them on defenseman Daxon Rudolph and center Ilia Morozov.
That matters for Winnipeg. A top-20 pick in 2026 is one thing.
A future first-rounder that could land in the bottom five in 2027 is another. And the gap between No. 4 this year and that kind of pick down the road is huge.
So for now, a more realistic outcome may be that Winnipeg gives Hellebuyck a few months to prove a rebound is coming. If the Jets are slipping out of the playoff picture by late February, the trade talks could reopen before the deadline.
That would likely work for Buffalo, too. By then, the Sabres should have a much better read on where they stand, including whether the UPL-Lyon-Ellis rotation is actually sustainable as they try to become a Stanley Cup threat.
In Other News...
Former Sabre JJ Peterka Just Created A New Buffalo Debate
JJ Peterkas path has already taken him from Buffalo to Utah and now back into the conversation around the Sabres after another major move. The 24-year-old winger, who was traded out of Buffalo one year ago, has now been dealt from the Utah Mammoth to the Boston Bruins, a transaction that immediately lit up another round of what-could-have-been debate for Sabres fans.
Peterkas next stop gives him a chance to reunite with some familiar faces from his Buffalo days, which at least softens the landing as he heads to Boston. He sounded surprised by the move and is approaching the change with optimism, but for the Sabres the storyline is less about where he is going now and more about how often his name keeps circling back into the conversation in Buffalo. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Just Became The Goalie Contract Benchmark Fans Need To Watch
Joel Hofers rise in St. Louis has quietly turned him into one of the more interesting young goalie cases in the NHL. After taking over as the Blues starter last season and backing it up with strong numbers in 46 games, he has moved from promising depth piece to a legitimate part of the teams core, which is exactly why his next contract is drawing so much attention around the league.
For Buffalo fans, the part to watch is how the market treats a young starter with upside when a club is trying to lock him in before the cost climbs further. Hofer is a restricted free agent after this season, and the Blues could face the kind of contract decision that has become harder to navigate in a league where offer sheets are no longer just a theoretical threat. St. Louis has dealt with that landscape before, and the way it handles Hofer could help define the goalie market for teams like the Sabres looking ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Now Face One Uncomfortable Devon Levi Question
Devon Levis exit left the Sabres making another clear statement about where their goaltending plans stand. After an impressive AHL track record, Levi had slipped out of favor in Buffalo, and the club moved on by claiming another goalie off waivers before dealing Levi and a draft pick to Edmonton for a better pick in the future. It was the sort of transaction that says as much about organizational priorities as it does about the player involved.
Now Levi gets a fresh start with the Oilers, where he will compete for the starting job, while Buffalo continues reshaping a roster that has been changing in other spots too. The Sabres have also been working to account for the blue-line holes left by recent trades, and the next layer of the conversation is whether the pieces they brought in can steady the defense while the crease picture keeps getting more complicated. [Read more 🡒]