Connor Hellebuyck’s run in Winnipeg is over, and the star goalie is headed to New Jersey in a blockbuster deal that gives the Devils the crease answer they’ve been chasing.
The Jets sent Hellebuyck to the Devils on Friday in a trade that brings back Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws and Alexander Command, along with a 2027 seventh-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick, the teams announced.
Hellebuyck had already made his intentions clear this summer. He asked to be moved in August, saying at the time that he had actually made the request months earlier and tried to keep it quiet.
For Winnipeg, this ends the career of a franchise cornerstone who spent his entire NHL life with the organization after being drafted by the Jets in 2012 at No. 130 overall. Hellebuyck built a resume that puts him among the league’s elite, winning the Vezina Trophy three times. He also helped lead the United States to its first gold medal at the 2026 Olympics in February, flashing the kind of game-changing stops that made him so hard to replace.
New Jersey had been hunting for help in goal for a while. Even after the club acquired Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames in 2024, the position never settled down. Markstrom’s 13.6 goals allowed above average, according to Natural Stat Trick, played a big part in the Devils missing the postseason last year.
This season only sharpened that urgency. The combination of Daws and veteran Jake Allen hasn’t looked like the kind of tandem a Stanley Cup contender can trust, and the numbers reflected it. New Jersey sits 24th in team save percentage at .877, and Daws and Allen have combined to allow 2.99 goals above average.
Hellebuyck changes the entire picture once he gets up to speed. From 2023-26, he led the NHL with 73.42 goals saved above average, which was 20 goals better than the next closest goalie. Over that stretch, he posted a .914 save percentage and an .832 high-danger save percentage.
That kind of performance is exactly why the Devils were willing to pay up. With Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier already in place, New Jersey can now slot in a proven No. 1 and push its window even wider.
The cost is significant, but for a team built to win now, it’s the kind of move that makes sense. The 2029 second-round pick doesn’t carry much weight for a club operating in the present tense, Bjugstad is a depth addition, and Daws no longer has a path to starting work with Hellebuyck arriving.
Mercer is the most notable piece going back to Winnipeg. He broke through with 56 points in 2022-23, his second NHL season, and while he hasn’t reached that level again, he still profiles as a dependable middle-six forward who is entering his prime. Winnipeg will also have to sort out whether it can lock him in before he reaches restricted free agency next summer.
Command is the other intriguing part of the return. He drew plenty of attention last summer as a consensus first-round pick, even with some questions about being taken at No. 12 overall. For the Jets, he offers the chance to add a long-term building block, especially with Winnipeg also taking center Viggo Bjorck themselves and now holding two forwards picked in the top 12 of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Daws, a third-round pick in 2020, gives Winnipeg another goalie option. He has played only 13 NHL games since the start of the 2024-25 season, but the Jets can view him as a backup behind Stuart Skinner. If Daws grows into more than that, it becomes a bonus.
There is a downside for Winnipeg, though. The package doesn’t include premium draft capital or a sure-fire blue-chip prospect, and that limits how explosive the return really is. Command could become a star, but there’s no guarantee he develops into the kind of top-six force the Jets would want.
Still, after Hellebuyck’s trade request and his absence through training camp, Winnipeg did manage to extract a respectable haul from a tough position. The Jets couldn’t expect fair value for a goalie of his caliber. They just needed to get the best deal available once it became clear the split was coming.
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Connor Hellebuycks suspension is over, and the trade that sent him to the Winnipeg Jets put a familiar Devils name in the middle of the deal. New Jersey moved Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command, Nick Bjugstad and draft picks in the transaction, a reminder that even in a sport built on long-term planning, the biggest moves can still hinge on sharp, immediate conversations behind the scenes.
Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff singled out Devils executive Sunny Mehta afterward, praising the way he handled the negotiations with a straightforward, serious approach. The comments arrived with the Heritage Classic looming, adding a little extra spotlight to a deal that already carried plenty of weight for both clubs and leaving New Jersey fans with one more reason to notice Mehtas role in the organizations front office work. [Read more 🡒]