The New Jersey Devils managed to turn a routine goalie rest decision into a full-blown talking point on Sunday night.
After their 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, general manager Sunny Mehta announced that Connor Hellebuyck would not start Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. That would have been Hellebuyck’s first game back in Winnipeg after he publicly requested a trade at the start of training camp. The explanation was as blunt as it was unusual: starting him “would potentially give [the Devils] a reduction in [their] expected win probability.”
Head coach Sheldon Keefe gave a more conventional reason, saying the move was about workload. If Hellebuyck had played Tuesday, it would have been his fourth start in eight days.
“From our perspective, when you zoom out, this is a goaltender that is not going to play every single game of the season. You’re always looking for times to give him a night off,” said Keefe, h/t The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.
Hellebuyck didn’t hide that he wanted the chance to play in Winnipeg. After Sunday’s game, he said he was “disappointed” by the decision, though he understood the team’s thinking.
“I love Winnipeg,” Hellebuyck said, h/t The Athletic. “Playing there again and just facing the music and seeing the reaction, it’d be nice. It’s out of my hands.”
To soften the blow for those upset by the call, the Devils are allowing Hellebuyck to hold a press conference before the game.
The move has already drawn plenty of attention around the league, and not in a good way. The comparison point for many is simple: players in big return games usually go out and play.
Brady Tkachuk did it in his return to Ottawa to face the Senators. Quinn Hughes did it in his return to Vancouver to play the Canucks, the team he began his career with before getting dealt to the Minnesota Wild last December.
That’s part of why the Devils’ choice has landed so awkwardly. Resting Hellebuyck is one thing. Announcing it two days before the game, and tying it to “expected win probability,” made it feel like the team was trying to outrun the criticism before it arrived.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have been forced into a very different kind of goalie management. Their depth issue pushed Dylan Garand into 12 straight games until Joonas Korpisalo finally made his debut on Saturday after recovering from a foot infection. New Jersey, by contrast, had the option to avoid the whole scene.
Instead, the Devils may have sidestepped the boos in Winnipeg only to invite a wave of backlash everywhere else.
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