The New Jersey Devils have changed the goaltending conversation in the Metro in a big way.
Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made a public request to be traded, is reportedly headed to New Jersey in a blockbuster deal that will ripple across the division. The Islanders were not part of the trade talks, but they still come out on the wrong side of this one because the Devils just got a major upgrade in net.
According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and RDS Hockey Insider, Winnipeg is getting forward Dawson Mercer, goalie Nico Daws, center Alexander Command - the No. 12 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft - and center Nick Bjugstad. Also included are a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft.
For the Devils, the move attacks the one area that has held them back most. Their goaltenders have combined for a .880 save percentage this season, along with a 3.00 goals-against average.
Daws, one of the pieces in the package, is 55th in the NHL with a Goals Saved Above Expected of -2.9. Jake Allen has been even lower at 59th with a GSAx of -3.5, and he now slides into a backup role with Hellebuyck on the way.
That’s the kind of swing that can reshape a team’s outlook fast. New Jersey already has 12 points through 10 games and is right in the early playoff mix in the Eastern Conference. With Hellebuyck in place, that position looks a lot stronger.
For the Islanders, the issue isn’t that they lost out on a chance to land him. They were already covered with Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. The problem is that the Devils’ weakness just got patched, and the road to a playoff spot in the division got tougher.
The gap that once existed between the Islanders’ goaltending and New Jersey’s is basically gone now. Sorokin and Varlamov were a much stronger tandem than Daws and Allen, but Hellebuyck changes the equation.
In the third year of a seven-year extension that pays $8.5 million annually, Hellebuyck now joins Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers in what should be a loaded goaltending picture in the Metro.
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Artemi Panarin did his part with two goals, and the game had plenty of goaltending at both ends before it tilted in the extra session. Los Angeles got the kind of finish that turns tight games into losses, while Quinton Byfield remained out with an upper-body injury and is considered day to day, leaving the Kings to keep adjusting as they try to build on a modest run. [Read more 🡒]