Connor Hellebuyck’s explanation for wanting out of Winnipeg landed with a familiar thud for hockey fans who’ve heard this story before.
Before Tuesday night’s Devils-Jets game, Hellebuyck said certain things had happened that crossed a line for him, and that his family had to come first. His comments sounded strikingly close to the kind of reasoning Mitch Marner used when he talked about wanting to leave Toronto.
“There was some moments and some things that happened to my family that for me crossed the line, and as a husband and a father, I felt made that decision very certain. I needed to be a good husband and good father, and do what’s best for my family and my career.”
“I needed to be a good husband and good father, and do what’s best for my family and my career.”
Connor Hellebuyck explained that some things his family experienced while in Winnipeg "crossed the line" and made his decision to request a trade "very certain".
When asked about… pic.twitter.com/i8v5gBxMP5
- Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 10, 2026
That’s the part that jumps out: not just a star wanting a change, but a star saying his family was part of the reason. Marner said something similar when he spoke about leaving Toronto, pointing to threats aimed at him and his family that went too far.
None of that is to say either player is being dishonest. But when two high-profile players in Canadian markets use almost the same language, it’s hard not to notice.
There’s even been some chatter around Brady Tkachuk and whether he dealt with similar issues in Ottawa before eventually ending up in Florida. That situation deserves a heavy grain of salt, though. Tkachuk basically pushed the Senators into trading him, and Ottawa didn’t exactly fight the idea, especially with a solid return coming back.
Still, the broader question hangs there: is there a pattern forming? Are Canadian markets becoming too much for some stars to handle?
The reality is that playing in Canada comes with a different level of scrutiny. Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, and Vancouver are massive stages.
Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Calgary may not carry the same size, but the pressure can still be relentless. And while criticism is part of the job, targeting a player’s family is something else entirely.
At that point, it’s easy to understand why Marner, Hellebuyck, and Tkachuk would feel justified in doing what they believe is best for themselves and the people closest to them. No player should be expected to put family stability at risk.
In that sense, Marner actually comes out looking better than Hellebuyck here, even if I’ve been critical of Marner plenty of times myself. He took plenty of heat in Toronto, especially after those first-round exits, but he played out his contract. He didn’t force his way out, and he even blocked a trade to Carolina.
You could argue he only blocked that move because he wanted Vegas. Maybe. But if he was truly desperate to leave, he could have taken the deal and sorted out the rest later.
Instead, Marner stayed because his family was expecting a child, and he didn’t think uprooting everyone then made sense. As a father, I get that.
So Marner left Toronto the way John Tavares left the Islanders in 2018: by reaching free agency and choosing his next stop. That’s very different from Hellebuyck’s trade request, which came out of nowhere for most people. Sure, there had been speculation after Winnipeg’s rough season last year, but nobody really saw this coming until it became public.
That surprise is part of why the whole thing felt so messy, especially with the Dylan Larkin situation still dragging on without a resolution.
Now flip the script and imagine Marner had asked for a trade before the summer of 2025. Toronto’s reaction would have been a different animal entirely. If his free-agent departure was already a lightning rod, a trade request would have blown the roof off.
Teams would have lined up, sure. But would anyone have met the price Toronto wanted?
That’s a different question. Brad Treliving did try to move Marner at the 2025 NHL trade deadline, but that was a scramble born from the possibility that Marner might walk that summer.
The Leafs were trying to salvage something.
And they did. What that return eventually looks like is still to be determined.
For now, Hellebuyck’s comments put Marner’s own saga in a somewhat different light. With a little distance, Maple Leafs fans may be more willing to look back and give him a bit more grace.
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