{"id":954944,"date":"2026-11-02T00:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954944\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T00:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:54:09","slug":"americas-best-nhl-players-are-amalgamating-in-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954944\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s best NHL players are amalgamating in… New Jersey?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Connor Hellebuyck recently forced his way to New Jersey via the Winnipeg Jets. With other members of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team seeking to make moves, many wonder if they’re plotting to unite as Devils.Ethan Miller\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The NHL has never been great at conspiracy theories, but they\u2019ve got a good one going now \u2013 the New Jersey Strategy.<\/p>\n

This scheme involves some sort of Star-Chamber-in-jocks after the U.S. won gold in Milan. In that meeting, it was decided a certain number of American players would leave their current pro clubs and band together to take over the league. In particular, they would abandon Canada. <\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, Brady Tkachuk, Connor Hellebuyck and Dylan Larkin \u2013 good players on mediocre teams \u2013 demanded trades. Quinn Hughes declined to sign an extension in Minnesota. Hughes\u2019s brothers, Jack and Luke, play in New Jersey \u2013 another mediocre team. <\/p>\n

If you believe in the New Jersey Strategy, that\u2019s where most of these guys intend on ending up. Hellebuyck arrived about a week ago. Hughes can move there in the summer. Larkin will be the proof of it. <\/p>\n

Having started the season with the Red Wings, the former Detroit captain is refusing to work until he is moved. The team has suspended him without pay in the interim. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Russia\u2019s return from the cold will force sporting rivals to make a choice<\/a><\/p>\n

Larkin has given Detroit a list of teams he is willing to go to. New Jersey is the weird one on it \u2013 neither a proper contender, nor a sexy locale. (To be clear, normal people don\u2019t think of Tampa as \u201csexy,\u201d but for hockey players it\u2019s Paris in spring all year long.)<\/p>\n

If any of this is true, then things are worse than we thought. Not because hockey players are conspiring to manipulate the market. That part is a major improvement. <\/p>\n

NBA players do this sort of thing all the time. It\u2019s one of the reasons basketball is so much more fun than the NHL. Less moving as a pack; more chaotic free thinking. That trend should be encouraged. <\/p>\n

The depressing thing is this particular fix\u2019s level of aspiration: zero. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

If the speculation is accurate that Hellebuyck and a number of his Team USA cohorts are trying to form a super team, New Jersey is a perfectly unimaginative destination, Cathal Kelly writes.Julio Cortez\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Fiddling things so that they all end up in New York, I would get. You\u2019ve got the largest media concentration on the planet, plus the most ridiculous owner in sports. That\u2019s a combo with possibilities. <\/p>\n

L.A. would also work. Wayne Gretzky laid the foundation, and Heated Rivalry provided a contemporary scaffolding you could build on. How do the Hughes brothers feel about microdramas? A couple of cool hockey-influencing cats having cheeky adventures in the Hollywood Hills. Maybe they could roller blade to Spago.<\/p>\n

But New Jersey? This is how they\u2019re going to MAGA-fy the NHL? Trumpism really is in retreat. <\/p>\n

As a general rule, sports conspiracy theories are false because most would require a) research and b) organization. Pros aren\u2019t good at such things. They\u2019re more cut out to be delegators. It\u2019s hard to delegate your current GM to do a deal that submarines his interests in order to prioritize your own. <\/p>\n

This is what sets the New Jersey Strategy apart. It\u2019s so sad, so lacking in imagination, that it might actually be true. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: No longer resolute, Jets got burned by trading Hellebuyck to New Jersey<\/a><\/p>\n

If hockey players had had to organize the Kennedy assassination, they would\u2019ve been stumped trying to snap the rifle together. Isn\u2019t there an equipment guy who should be doing the gun stuff for us?<\/p>\n

But I can buy a bunch of them, eight Rolling Rocks deep, putting their heads together and coming up with New Jersey. <\/p>\n

It has no state income tax! (It does.) <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll love us there! (They won\u2019t care.) <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be out in Manhattan every night! (If you have a helicopter).<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Connor Hellebuyck (waving) and his U.S. men’s Olympic hockey teammates, attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February, shortly after beating Canada in the gold medal game.Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

New Jersey has already been a powerhouse. That\u2019s a part of NHL history most people have purposely forgotten. All I can remember about it now is Scott Stevens hitting guys with his hip and their heads popping off, and entire games played within 10 feet of centre ice. In the nineties, the Devils built the most anonymous dynasty in league history. There is no demand for a sequel. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the sad fact for America firsters \u2013 if you want to build a hockey monolith that will ensure your name rings out in eternity, you\u2019re going to have to do it as a guest worker in Canada. <\/p>\n

Carolina could make it five Cups in a row, and you still won\u2019t be able to find one in 10 randos on the street in Miami who can tell you the team nickname. <\/p>\n

Even in the U.S.\u2019 strongest hockey markets, hockey will never make the impression it once did. The Bruins or Flyers will never again be the Bruins and Flyers from 50 years ago. There\u2019s too much more sports these days, and the country has become too inward looking. Team USA may suddenly be a big deal in America, but that does not mean hockey is. <\/p>\n

Had these guys decided they were all going to Montreal, that would make actual sense. Americans may not rate the sport, but they appreciate winners. If you could build the Los Angeles Dodgers in Quebec, manned primarily by Americans, that\u2019s news back home. \u2018We stole their game!\u2019 \u2018We\u2019re bigger than Rocket Richard (please click link to Rocket Richard\u2019s Wiki)!\u2019<\/p>\n

Same effect in Toronto or Edmonton. Even Texans have heard of those places. <\/p>\n

But this idea of assembling the hockey Avengers somewhere off the I-280 turnpike? I don\u2019t care how good you are, that\u2019s not going to work. <\/p>\n

Hellebuyck has already arrived and been excellent. In terms of league-wide discussion points, it\u2019s still five rungs below whoever\u2019s blowing it in goal Tuesday night for the Leafs. <\/p>\n

If the point here is to have a nice, quiet life in hockey, then by all means, Newark. It\u2019s got a lot of good points, most of which are proximity to other, better cities. It\u2019s in the delivery catchment for an Italian sandwich joint in Lyndhurst that I think about at least once a week. <\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re trying to rewrite all the rules, take control of the means of production, and turn hockey into America\u2019s game, I\u2019m afraid this conspiracy has already been foiled. You foiled it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Connor Hellebuyck recently forced his way to New Jersey via the Winnipeg Jets.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,2922,82,8023],"class_list":["post-954944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-noastack","tag-sports","tag-topstory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}