The Connor Hellebuyck sweepstakes ended with the New Jersey Devils, and that leaves the Vegas Golden Knights exactly where they started: still stuck with Adin Hill.
Pierre LeBrun reported the deal Wednesday, with Winnipeg sending Hellebuyck to New Jersey. Heading back to the Jets are Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command, Nick Bjugstad and two draft picks.
To Wpg: Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Alexander Command and Nick Bjugstad plus two draft picks.
To NJ: Connor Hellebuyck.
- Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 23, 2026
The Devils have been chasing help in goal for a while, with names like Jacob Markstrom already part of that search. Now they get an Olympic gold medalist to plug into the mix.
For Vegas, though, the bigger story is why this never got legs. According to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Winnipeg is on Hill’s no-trade list.
That matters a lot when you’re talking about a goalie with a $6.25 million cap hit for six years and a track record of lower-body injuries. It’s the kind of contract that makes any move difficult.
Put that together with Hill’s no-trade protection and the Golden Knights were boxed in.
That was already clear over the summer, when Vegas couldn’t move Hill. The salary was one problem.
The no-trade list was another. And there was the simple question of whether any team wanted to take on a goalie coming off what the source called an abysmal 2025-26 season.
So now the Golden Knights are left to keep going with Hill and Carter Hart, at least for the time being. That’s not exactly comforting after the defensive issues the team has already had in the past couple of games. The problems haven’t been isolated to the crease, either.
The reality for Kelly McCrimmon is that the Hill contract has become a heavy anchor. Six years at $6.25 million per season is hard to move under any circumstances, and even harder when one of the destinations you’d like to explore is already off the table. If Winnipeg couldn’t be a landing spot, then the path to a Hellebuyck deal was never going to be simple.
Could Vegas have tried to build something if Hill were not blocking the Jets? Maybe.
But the cost still would have been real. The source points to Trevor Connelly and Juho Piiparinen as the type of younger talent Winnipeg would likely want, along with a salary dump in Nic Dowd, who does not have the same no-trade restrictions.
And that’s the frustrating part for Vegas. Hellebuyck is the kind of goalie upgrade teams dream about, especially when you already have a Hart Memorial Trophy winner and another Olympic gold medalist in the room. But the Golden Knights couldn’t get there, and now they have to live with what they have.
That means a 2026-27 season with Hill and Hart unless something drastic changes. Vegas will need cleaner defensive play and better work from the goalies, especially Hill. Otherwise, the path to another Stanley Cup in Sin City gets a lot tougher.
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