The Golden Knights kicked the tires on Connor Hellebuyck, but the idea didn’t get far.
Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Vegas was one of the teams that reached out to Winnipeg about the veteran goaltender. The fit, though, never really took shape.
Winnipeg wanted to send Hellebuyck to an Eastern Conference team, and they also wanted a goalie back in return. That’s where the path narrowed quickly.
Webster adds that Adin Hill’s no-trade list includes the Jets, which takes the most obvious goalie option out of play. The other possibility, Carter Hart, wouldn’t have been an ideal match either.
He is the starter for Vegas, and with his contract expiring, his trade value to Winnipeg would have been reduced. Between those hurdles, any real Hellebuyck talks faded fast.
Elsewhere in the West, Winnipeg is getting Nino Niederreiter back in the lineup tonight for the Heritage Classic against Montreal. The Jets released their projected lines for the game, and the 34-year-old is set to skate on the fourth line.
Niederreiter left Thursday’s game against Dallas after being clipped by a high-stick from teammate Tyrel Bauer, but he appears to have recovered in time to play. He still hasn’t registered a point in his first seven games of the season.
Anaheim also made a roster move involving two of its young forwards. According to the AHL’s transactions log, the Ducks assigned Cruz Lucius and Coulson Pitre to ECHL Tulsa.
Lucius is in his first pro season after Anaheim acquired his signing rights from Pittsburgh in August, following a 46-point NCAA campaign. He has one goal in four games with the Gulls this year.
Pitre split last season between the two levels and produced 21 points in 26 games with Tulsa, but he has not appeared at either level in 2026-27.
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