Connor Hellebuyck, the NHL’s Hart Trophy winner in 2025 and a three-time goaltender of the year, has publicly asked for a trade from the Winnipeg Jets.
Hellebuyck said he privately asked to be traded “several months ago” in a statement posted Thursday on the X account of his agent, Ray Petkau.
The goaltender says he gave the organization time to address his request “quietly and respectfully,” but decided to go public as training camp nears.
“Winnipeg has been my home for my entire NHL career, and I will always be grateful for my time there,” Hellebuyck said. “I have never forgotten June 23, 2012. That’s the day Winnipeg took a chance on a goalie playing in Odessa, Texas. I gave everything I had from that moment to prove that the Jets made the right decision.
“Several months ago, I privately requested a trade. I have tried to handle the situation quietly and respectfully while giving the organization time to explore its options.”
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff had said before June’s NHL draft that he was listening to offers for Hellebuyck. At the time, he did not confirm that the goaltender had asked to be traded.
“Connor has been open with us about his desire for a change. He has been an important part of the Winnipeg Jets organization for many years, and we have tremendous respect for what he has accomplished here,” Cheveldayoff said in a statement released Thursday.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
“While we continue to work through the situation in a thoughtful manner, there is no update at this time.”
Hellebuyck backstopped the Jets to the NHL’s best record in the 2024-25 season and was rewarded with the Hart Trophy as league MVP as well as his third Vezina Trophy as top goalie.
He’s been their fulltime starting goalie since the 2016-2017 season, but the Jets already have a potential replacement under contract after signing Stuart Skinner as a free agent.
The voice of the Jets, Paul Edmonds, believes the team won’t be forced into a trade if they can’t get his full value in return.
“They got a number one goaltender,” Edmonds told 680 CJOB. “If Connor Hellebuyck does not report to camp and they can’t consummate a trade, Connor Hellebuyck is going to be sitting out with five years left on a contract and he’s not going to get paid.
“If there’s not a deal that satisfies Kevin Cheveldayoff and the executive administration of the Winnipeg Jets that is to their satisfaction on what they would get in return for Connor Hellebuyck, I don’t think that Winnipeg is going to be forced into a corner to make a move.”
The 33-year-old from Commerce Township, Mich., was a middling 23-23-11 in 57 games with a 2.86 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage with Winnipeg last season. But he did help the United States win gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, making 41 saves in a 2-1 win over Canada in the gold-medal game.
Over 625 career games with the Jets, Hellebuyck has a 345-208-55 record with a 2.58 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and 45 shutouts. He also won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 and 2024.
He signed an eight-year, US$59.5 million extension with Winnipeg in October 2023. He’s under contract through 2031 at a salary cap hit of $8.5 million.
Hellebuyck drew criticism last season after attending a White House reception hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump following the Americans’ Olympic victory.
Trump announced at the reception that Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The goalie later said he had no regrets about attending but was upset by criticism directed at his wife, Andrea, and other members of his family.
“The blowback that my wife was getting is just not fair,” Hellebuyck said in March. “I don’t understand how she can take so much heat for just being with me as a hockey player. We’ve done nothing wrong, she’s done nothing wrong, my kids have done nothing wrong, and everyone in my family is happy.
“I’m just going to continue living and moving on with my life and let that just fizzle out, because it always will.”
Hellebuyck is the latest high-profile American player to seek an exit from a Canadian NHL team, following the departures of Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa, his brother Matthew from Calgary and Quinn Hughes from Vancouver.
- With files from Russ Hobson
© 2026 The Canadian Press
