Winnipeg Jets franchise goaltender Connor Hellebuyck offered scathing criticism of his team’s season, on and off the ice, at his exit interview on Friday.
“What we did this year was unacceptable,” Hellebuyck said. “No one wants to be part of that.”
Hellebuyck questioned Winnipeg’s level of complacency as an organization, casting doubts on the team’s ability to build a Stanley Cup contender. He made it clear that Winnipeg is his home, but questioned other players’ willingness to come to the city. Most of all, he questioned the Jets’ ability to build a winning team.
“Can you get the pieces that you need? Will the players come? These are always questions that you have in Winnipeg. I’ve made it my home and I like it here, but the majority of the league doesn’t feel the same way,” Hellebuyck said.
The Jets have had trouble attracting top free agents and trade targets, even when they’ve been atop the NHL standings. Winnipeg shows up on a majority of no-trade clauses in a league that gives up a disproportionate amount of trade protection compared to the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Now that they have missed the playoffs entirely, Hellebuyck appeared to be sounding the alarm about the Jets’ competitive window.
“For me, it’s winning a Stanley Cup. That’s my goal, and that’s all I have left,” he said. “I don’t play this game for the money, I don’t play it for the fame. I do it for my own personal fun, and part of that is winning a Cup. For me, I’m just looking at … How can I get that? How can I get there?”
After a discussion about the Jets’ propensity for giving up tipped shots and screens, Hellebuyck suggested Winnipeg created its own bad luck through loose play. He said that, aside from his Olympic gold medal, this season was not nearly as fun as usual.
When asked whether he felt optimistic about the Jets’ future, Hellebuyck paused briefly.
“In this moment, after going through that, it’s hard,” Hellebuyck said. “It’s the next day. To all of a sudden come over here and say, ‘We’re going to be amazing next year after we just did that (miss the playoffs).’ That’s just not how it works … to take the step back that we did this year just felt very wrong. From the Presidents’ Trophy to this, it felt like this should have never happened. And it did. And I’m part of it.”
When he signed his seven-year, $8.5 million AAV contract extension in 2023, Hellebuyck said he was motivated by the Jets’ commitment to winning the Stanley Cup. He said on Friday that he continues to believe in the quality of Winnipeg’s core players and thinks “we’re a very good team.” He said that, in time, everything heals, implying that the Jets’ failed season was still weighing on him like a wound. Still, Hellebuyck admitted that his belief in the team’s ability to win a Stanley Cup was challenged this season.
Hellebuyck’s longest pause of the lengthy media session came when he was asked about his future in Winnipeg. Has he second-guessed his future with the Jets after such a tough season and the tough conversations with management that followed it?
“I don’t want to go and leave any speculation,” Hellebuyck said after several seconds. “I love this city, and I love playing here. The fans have given me so much, and I’ve given so much to the fans. There’s a real connection there. I wish more people around the league would see that and could see that. Am I going to go in and tell you that right now I feel amazing about winning a Cup tomorrow? Like, no. No team out of the playoffs is going to say that. No player out of the playoffs is going to say that. But, you know, you make your decisions, and you live by them. As time goes by, you try to re-evaluate and then, honestly, as an athlete, the only thing you can do is put your best foot forward.”
Hellebuyck’s status as the defending Hart Trophy winner as the league’s most valuable player and his gold medal-winning performance for Team USA at the Olympics imply he can still play at a high level, but his brilliance has always been rooted in the speed with which he reads the play in front of him. The Jets created chaos in their own zone this season. That’s not the order that Hellebuyck is used to.
How are the Jets meant to help their star goaltender deliver the results he seeks to deliver? Does GM Kevin Cheveldayoff need to make major moves this offseason to address his depleted roster?
“That’s a great question for Chevy — it really is,” Hellebuyck said. “From my perspective, complacency is not going to get us moving forward. So something has got to happen. I’m not going to just sit here and throw every guy under the bus because, honestly, I’m a goalie and I know goaltending really well.
“I can’t say, ‘Well, this forward did this and that defenceman did that.’ That’s not my spot. I believe in every guy giving their A-plus effort every single night. As a teammate, I can really rally behind that and really cherish those moments with those guys. But to just put that same product on the ice, I don’t think it worked for a reason.”