The return of Connor Hellebuyck to Winnipeg will have to wait.
After the Jets finished off Tampa Bay last night, word came down that the Devils will not start their former franchise goaltender when they visit Canada Life Centre tomorrow night. Jake Allen is getting the nod instead, pushing Hellebuyck’s first game back in Winnipeg down the road and leaving plenty of Jets fans to sit on their anticipation a little longer.
Head coach Scott Arniel made it clear he understands why the decision landed the way it did, even if it changes the mood around the building.
“They (the Devils) have their reasons and it’s fine. To me it goes back to ownership, it goes back to fans, it goes back to the core guys that have been with Helle from the very beginning. That’s the part for me that’s hard,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
He didn’t hide his frustration with the delay, either.
“He gave up on us. It would be nice to finally be done with this. All this does is drag this out to nine or 10 more games and then we have to talk about it again.”
The teams will meet again on November 28, but that one will be in Newark at Prudential Center, which means the conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.
“So there'll be lots of media questions going into that game. It’s just pushed it down the road a little bit farther, but you’re right. It’s been a lot of emotional ups and downs,” said Arniel.
He also praised the way his team has handled everything around the situation.
“What I said the other day, so proud of our group, our leadership group especially, how they’ve handled this situation and continued to handle this situation. They’re extremely professional.”
Adam Lowry said he was surprised the Devils chose not to start Hellebuyck, though he figured there were conversations behind the scenes that he wasn’t part of. Still, the Jets captain made it clear he would have preferred the matchup to happen Tuesday night.
“I would have loved to play against him. We’d all be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to the opportunity,” said Lowry.
He said the night would have carried plenty of emotion either way.
“Like I said countless times, he’s a good friend of ours and it’s always fun going up against buddies and ex-teammates, you just want to best him and I think the atmosphere would have been great whether fans were upset or they wanted to thank him, whatever. It would have been an emotional night and it would have been a lot of fun.”
Even without Hellebuyck, the setting still figures to be loud. The Jets are coming off back-to-back walk-off wins, and the crowd should be ready to make itself heard one way or another.
Kyle Connor said the group’s focus has to stay on the game itself.
“Yeah, we just keep continuing to build what we’ve been doing recently. I think we’ve been playing some really good hockey, and there’s still two points in the line, and when the puck’s dropped, you still got to play the game,” said Kyle Connor.
“No matter how much outside noise there is, you got to focus on winning your shift and competing when you’re out there.”
In Other News...
Hellebuycks Winnipeg Return Just Reopened A Frustrating Jets Breakup
Connor Hellebuycks return to Winnipeg has already brought an awkward old chapter back into focus. Now with the New Jersey Devils, the former Jets goaltender spent time with the media in the city where he built so much of his career, thanking the fans and making clear he still has appreciation for the place he once called home. He also revisited the circumstances that led to his trade request, saying personal and family factors were part of the decision to move on.
The on-ice reunion will come with an unexpected wrinkle, since Hellebuyck will not start in the game. He said he disagrees with the choice, even as he has put together a strong record with New Jersey, and the decision only adds another layer to a breakup that never really felt clean in the first place. For Jets fans, it is a reminder that the end of his Winnipeg run was shaped by more than hockey, and the return has reopened questions that were never fully settled. [Read more 🡒]
Hellebuyck Just Added A Painful Twist To His Jets Exit
Connor Hellebuycks trade request from the Winnipeg Jets has taken on a more personal edge, with the goaltender saying the decision was shaped by a complicated set of factors rather than one simple grievance. He acknowledged the challenges of being an American player in Canada, but said those issues were not the main reason he wanted out, leaving the impression that there was more behind the move than the usual hockey frustrations.
What he did make clear was that the situation had become difficult enough to involve his family, though he stopped short of going into specifics out of concern for their privacy. Now, with the New Jersey Devils ruling him out of their upcoming game in Winnipeg, the return trip has already taken on an awkward tone, and the full story of what pushed him to that point still remains out of public view. [Read more 🡒]
Moose Depth Faces Its Biggest Test Yet In Texas
The Manitoba Moose have spent the first stretch of the 2026-27 season proving their depth can travel. Even with a depleted lineup, they found a way to take two games from the Toronto Marlies and keep their strong start rolling, sitting second in the Central Division as they head into a tougher road test against the Texas Stars.
What makes the next stop feel different is the pressure building around the roster itself. Manitoba has already leaned on its structure and next-man-up mentality to get through an impressive opening run, but the challenge in Texas will be a more demanding measure of how far that depth can carry them when the lineup is stretched and the opposition is waiting to expose any cracks. [Read more 🡒]