The Los Angeles Kings have at least checked the market on Connor Hellebuyck, and the early read is that Winnipeg isn’t making this easy.
According to Sportsnet’s Frank Seravalli, Kings GM Ken Holland has gotten far enough along to understand what it would take to pull the three-time Vezina Trophy winner out of Winnipeg. Seravalli also reports that the Kings have been told Hellebuyck would accept a move to Los Angeles.
That doesn’t mean a deal is close. It does, however, make this one of the more intriguing goalie situations around the league, especially because there hasn’t been any other recent trade chatter involving Hellebuyck.
For the Kings, the real question is whether the fit makes sense if their season keeps wobbling. Seravalli notes that if the slow start continues to snowball, it would be difficult to justify moving a 2027 or 2028 first-round pick, even with lottery protection. That’s the kind of price a team has to think twice about when it isn’t even sure it’s a playoff team.
And that’s where the awkward part begins. A roster already built on age would only get older with Hellebuyck, who is 33 and under contract through 2031. If Los Angeles is still sitting outside the playoff picture, adding an elite goalie doesn’t automatically solve the larger problem.
The Kings have had a rough opening stretch for a few different reasons. They’ve run into tough opponents, they own the league’s worst combined special teams, and they’ll be without Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarello for several more weeks.
Between the posts, things haven’t held up either. Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg have combined for an .848 save percentage over the first two weeks.
Winnipeg has its own wrinkle to manage. Seravalli says the Jets are considering the possibility of a messy scenario if Hellebuyck were to say he wants to come back. The CBA gives them tools to keep him away, including conditioning stints or suspensions for violating team rules, but contractually he still has the right to report and play.
That raises the possibility of leverage from Hellebuyck’s side if he knows Winnipeg doesn’t want him back. Seravalli also laid out the other side of the argument, writing, “Maybe Hellebuyck is exactly what the Kings need - an elite backstop with five years remaining on his deal, enough to be the connective backbone between a potential playoff team now and the youth movement pending.”
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Red Wings Suddenly Face Two Roster Questions They Can't Ignore
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Any serious swing would almost certainly require a major package, the kind of return that can start with a future first-round pick and grow from there. For the Kings, that puts the conversation at the intersection of urgency and patience: a possible crease-changing addition is out there, but the price tag and the timing still leave plenty unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Offense Issues Could Force A Bigger Lineup Shakeup
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Mats Zuccarello was on the ice, a sign he is getting closer to a return from injury, but he was not quite a full participant yet. The larger question for Los Angeles remains how far the changes might go if the offense keeps sputtering, with center-ice options and the top line among the areas that could be affected. [Read more 🡒]