Connor Hellebuyck’s name keeps hanging around the trade market, and the chatter doesn’t sound like it’s going away anytime soon.
The Jets didn’t get a deal done at the draft, but Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press believes a summer move still looks extremely likely. Winnipeg has a little more flexibility now, too, with longtime partner Eric Comrie gone in free agency and Stuart Skinner arriving - a goalie who has reached 50 or more appearances in four straight seasons. That gives the Jets some cover if they decide to move the three-time Vezina winner.
Buffalo was already mentioned as a possible fit around the draft, and McIntyre also sees San Jose as a team that could make sense. The Sharks have Yaroslav Askarov in the fold, but a shift toward a more win-now approach could make Hellebuyck attractive, especially with the cap space to absorb him. Hellebuyck has not formally requested a trade, but that hasn’t slowed the speculation.
Around the league, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is staying in the NHL in a new role. The Lightning announced earlier this week that they’ve hired the former center as a Player Development Specialist.
It’s a return to Tampa Bay for Bellemare, who played 153 games for the club across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. His focus will be on forward prospects, and he’ll also spend time with AHL Syracuse.
Jeremie Poirier has also landed somewhere new after being non-tendered by Dallas last month. Adler Mannheim of the DEL announced a one-year contract for the 24-year-old defenseman.
Poirier began last season with Calgary before being traded in February, and he finished with 16 points in 51 games between the two organizations. Before that, he had back-to-back years of 40-plus points in Calgary’s system.
Nick Cicek is headed to KHL Shanghai on a one-year deal, according to Championat’s Anton Panchenko. The 26-year-old last appeared in the NHL in 2022-23, when he played 16 games for San Jose.
Since then, he has split time between the AHL and DEL. Last season with AHL Calgary, he put up 25 points and 119 penalty minutes in 70 games.
In Other News...
Why The Ducks Blue Line Suddenly Looks Different In This Market
The defense market keeps climbing, and Darren Raddyshs new deal is another reminder of how quickly the price for a top-four blue liner can change once free agency opens. Around the league, teams have been paying up for defensemen who can handle real minutes and still chip in offense, with Bowen Byrams six-year commitment from Chicago standing out as one of the bigger bets in the class.
For Tampa Bay, Raddyshs rise has been part of the story for a while, especially after his career year gave him a stronger case than the typical depth defenseman. The Lightning have watched a handful of comparable blueliners reset the market in different ways, and the latest contracts only sharpen the question of where Raddysh fit in that landscape before Toronto stepped in. [Read more 🡒]