The Carolina Hurricanes have trimmed a major name out of their pursuit of Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, and that change could be the difference between a deal getting done or falling apart.
On the 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said prospect Alexander Nikishin is no longer part of Carolina’s offer. Friedman suggested that if Nikishin were willing to go to Winnipeg, a deal might already be complete. Instead, several people told him Wednesday that the Hurricanes have a package on the table for the Jets without the young defenseman, a clear shift from where the talks began.
Even with that revised offer in play, Friedman doesn’t view it as enough to force Winnipeg’s hand. If it were overwhelming, he said, the trade would likely already be finished.
That keeps other teams in the mix, and Friedman believes Buffalo and Utah are still lurking. He also pointed to Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen having another rough night Wednesday, a sign of just how tense the goaltending market has become.
The way Carolina handles the negotiation may end up mattering just as much as the names in the offer. Friedman said general manager Eric Tulsky doesn’t operate like Minnesota’s Bill Guerin, who reportedly gives a first-and-final take-it-or-leave-it stance. But the Hurricanes have a firm reputation of their own: when they say time is up, they mean it.
Friedman brought up the Mikko Rantanen trade as the clearest example. He said Carolina had two deals active that night, one involving Rantanen from Colorado and another involving Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson.
Friedman said he expected the Pettersson move to happen and was slow to switch his focus to Rantanen. In his telling, Carolina told both teams to submit their best offers.
Colorado came through, Vancouver reportedly did not, and the Hurricanes turned away. Vancouver, Friedman said, seemed somewhat surprised, and the league took notice.
The lesson spread quickly: if Carolina says it’s time, the games stop.
That history is part of the message now for Winnipeg and any other interested club. Friedman said he doesn’t know exactly where the Jets talks stand, only that Carolina does have something on the table. He also suggested Buffalo and Utah might quietly be hoping the Hurricanes’ offer doesn’t meet Winnipeg’s price.
What happens next could ripple through the rest of the market. Friedman said it sounds like by the end of the weekend, the league may know whether Carolina is in or out on Hellebuyck. And if the Hurricanes walk away, he implied they may not circle back.
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