** NHLRumors.com transcription<\/p>\n
Hradek: \u201cOur buddy, NHL Network insider Elliotte Friedman, was on the Fan Hockey Show on Sportsnet, and he ruffled, he kind of made a little news. He said, \u2018You know, the tires have been kicked between the Jets and the Sharks on maybe a Hellebuck deal.\u2019 Didn\u2019t go much further than that. I guess some kind of conversation didn\u2019t, I don\u2019t think exactly had a time frame.<\/p>\n
But as we wait and wonder what\u2019s going to happen with Connor Hellebuyck, these are the kind of things that are going to be out there. And you can see here are the, the career numbers in Jets\/Thrashers franchise history.<\/p>\n
A First NHL Trade Board of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n And Hellebuyck is, I mean, he has been lights out, good for them. In the playoffs. It\u2019s been a little bit of a different story. But certainly in the regular season, I mean, a three-time Vezina winner, a Hart Trophy winner, he\u2019s got a gold medal with Team USA last February.<\/p>\n Dano, what, do you think it\u2019s a fit in San Jose, a team that\u2019s rebuilding and playing better and has some good young players? Is it time to go in on a goalie when they already have (Yaroslav) Askarov there, who is a younger goalie?<\/p>\n Daneyko: \u201cThere\u2019s a couple of factors here. I mean, look, they came relatively close last year, right? Are they ready to take a step? They\u2019ve all might be.<\/p>\n Hradek: \u201cThey want to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n Daneyko: \u201cI have to think they\u2019re a team that can make the playoffs. The Celebreni is even going to be better. The surrounding youngsters and core there now are going to push and be a little bit better as well. They\u2019ve added three veteran defensemen. That\u2019s where they were thin. They add three veteran D. They had a (Mason) Marchment, physical forward that can put the puck in the net.<\/p>\n So yeah, it appears that they want to be a team that, \u2018No, we\u2019re not going to just inch along here. We\u2019re ready to strike now. We\u2019re ready to make the playoffs.\u2019<\/p>\n The question I have is Askarov. He\u2019s got a bright future. It was a little bit topsy-turvy, up and down season, like a lot of young goaltenders. Yes, it was. So you have to ask yourself, if you\u2019re the general manager, Mike Greer, you say, \u2018Do we believe in Askarov 100%, and he\u2019s going to take those steps this season and moving forward, because then we\u2019ve got a really good goaltender for a long time?\u2019<\/p>\n NHL Rumors: Nikita Kucherov, and a $127.5 Million Salary Cap Ceiling in Two Years?<\/a><\/p>\n Or do we believe, the way Hellebuyck has been so consistent in the regular season for so many years, why wouldn\u2019t you kick the tires if that\u2019s the question? You, I don\u2019t know if you can keep Askarov then because he would be a disgruntled \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Hradek: \u201cMaybe he\u2019s part of the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Daneyko: \u201c\u2026 younger, maybe future, of the franchise goaltender.\u201d<\/p>\n Hradek: \u201cMaybe he\u2019s part of the deal, maybe to Winnipeg, along with, you know. I think the Jets have been holding out in all this to try to acquire a center in this deal. And you know, the San Jose Sharks have a lot of young players, so do they have players that would work for Winnipeg? Winnipeg has been very clear. We\u2019re not giving Hellebuyck away.<\/p>\n And whoever gets him gets a guy who\u2019s on a really good contract for another five years. So this will continue. We\u2019ll hear the rumors. I think there\u2019s other teams: Buffalo, New Jersey, certainly San Jose. There\u2019s teams that are interested, but can they make it work for Winnipeg?<\/p>\n Daneyko: \u201cI believe, I believe there\u2019s a handful of teams, and the teams that you mentioned would kick the tires on Connor Hellebuyck. Why wouldn\u2019t you? You have to consider age. Is he going to continue to play at this level of play? And yeah, we know the playoffs has not been kind. Maybe a different scenery, change of scenery, would be different this time around. We saw what he did in the gold medal game, stole that game against Canada for Team USA.<\/p>\n For me, though, if I\u2019m the Sharks, and this is just an opinion, I\u2019m probably staying the course because I, I believe in Askarov. I think, and it was inconsistent. The numbers weren\u2019t, weren\u2019t great just yet, but I, I think he can be a long-term solution, long-term goaltender that gets into that upper echelon of netminders in the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are Linked to Kirill Marchenko<\/a><\/p>\n He\u2019s a little higher risk if you have, higher risk going into Askarov if he doesn\u2019t make that progress. And you have kind of a sure bet if you\u2019re allowed, if you\u2019re able to acquire Connor Hellebuyck. Well, probably, but for me, I\u2019d probably stay the course.\u201d<\/p>\n We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX<\/a><\/p>\n Have you\u00a0subscribed to our YouTube channel<\/a>? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We\u2019re also posting some stuff on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you love our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hellebuyck-stats-300x177.jpg\")
<\/a>Image from NHL Network<\/p>\n![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sharks-goalies-300x180.jpg\")
<\/a>Image from NHL Network<\/p>\n