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.
In Other News...
Jets Skid Feels Worse After Another Flat Night In A Big Spot
The outdoor stage at Princess Auto Stadium offered Winnipeg a chance to steady itself and reset the tone of a season that has gone sideways in a hurry, but the result only deepened the unease. The Jets fell 2-1 to the Canadiens in the 2026 Heritage Classic, extending a losing streak to five games and leaving another big spot feeling like a missed opportunity.
Winnipeg finally broke its outdoor scoring drought on a late goal from Isak Rosen, but the lone push came too late to change the mood around a night that had already slipped away. The Jets also let four power play chances go by, a familiar kind of frustration when a team is searching for anything that can stop the slide. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Came Closer Than Fans Realized On Connor Hellebuyck
Connor Hellebuycks name was never just idle speculation around the league. According to Elliotte Friedman, several teams were in the mix on the Winnipeg goalie, including the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, Utah Mammoth and Carolina Hurricanes, with talks reaching a point where real frameworks were being discussed before they unraveled over timing, player-package issues and other moving parts.
For Winnipeg, the most interesting part is how close some of those conversations apparently came to mattering. Friedman said he does not have the full picture on every detail, but the market had enough traction that specific pieces started to become the real hurdles, from draft-pick complications with Buffalo to Carolinas unwillingness to part with certain key players. That is the sort of backdrop that reminds you how much noise can surround a star goalie before the trade window finally closes. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Let A Shorthanded Canadiens Team Steal The Heritage Classic
The Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium had the sort of feel these outdoor games are supposed to have, with the temperature hovering around 3 C at puck drop and a crowd of 32,342 taking in a rivalry game that carried a little extra bite. Winnipeg had a chance to make the day count, but Montreal continued its recent run and came away with a 2-1 win in a game that fit the setting as much as it frustrated the home side.
For the Canadiens, the result also keeps the focus on how they navigate the stretch ahead with captain Nick Suzuki dealing with a hand injury. Montreal has now taken two straight, and while the outdoor win over the Jets will stand out as one of the seasons more memorable results, the bigger question for the Canadiens is how long they can keep the momentum going if Suzuki is limited. [Read more 🡒]