Colorado Avalanche fans got a reason to look over their shoulders after Elliotte Friedman’s latest read on the Connor Hellebuyck market.
On the most recent edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Friedman said the Winnipeg Jets turned away a hefty Florida Panthers package for the goaltender earlier this summer. And if that’s the bar, Colorado would have a tough time even getting in the room.
“I believe that their offer was Rodrigues, the picks that went to Ottawa in the Brady Tkachuk trade, and one roster player, not Lundell.”
That means the Panthers were willing to part with Evan Rodrigues, a player familiar to Avalanche fans after appearing in 69 games for Colorado in 2022-23, plus a pile of draft capital. The picks tied to that deal wound up being the ninth-overall pick in 2026, the 25th-overall pick in 2026, a 2027 second-rounder, and a 2029 first-round pick, all originally sent from Florida to Ottawa in the Brady Tkachuk trade.
The roster player Friedman referenced was Anton Lundell, who filled in as the Panthers’ top-line center with Aleksander Barkov out. Lundell has earned a reputation as one of the NHL’s best young two-way centers, which helps explain why Florida drew the line there.
For Colorado, that kind of rejection tells the whole story: landing Hellebuyck would require a massive haul, and the Avalanche don’t exactly have a deep stash of premium trade chips to work with.
If you try to map Florida’s offer onto the current Avalanche roster, you’re looking at at least Colorado’s 2029 first-round pick, since the team doesn’t have first-rounders in 2027 or 2028, plus maybe the 2027 second-rounder that originally belonged to Minnesota. A package could also include a player like Logan O’Connor and perhaps someone like Sam Malinski.
The goalie piece matters, too. The real hinge of any deal would be whether Winnipeg wants a netminder coming back, and MacKenzie Blackwood is the name that naturally comes up there.
Even with that in the mix, it still feels thin for a player of Hellebuyck’s caliber. Blackwood, O’Connor, Malinski, and a 2029 first-round pick might not be enough to move Winnipeg.
So if the Avalanche are going to make a run at Hellebuyck, patience may be their best weapon. The Jets appear determined to hold firm for now, and the longer that stance lasts, the better chance Colorado has of seeing the asking price soften.
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Kadris comments carried the tone of a player comfortable with the business side of the sport, but also appreciative of the chance to chase another championship with Colorado. He pointed back to his playoff experience and the teams recent run as part of that perspective, yet the bigger issue for the Avalanche is still unresolved: how they sort out their forward structure around a player who can fill several roles and may be needed in more than one of them. [Read more 🡒]