{"id":880898,"date":"2026-10-13T14:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880898\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:14:13","slug":"connor-hellebuyck-could-rejoin-winnipeg-jets-after-trade-request-but-teammates-may-not-want-him-back-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880898\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor Hellebuyck could rejoin Winnipeg Jets after trade request, but teammates \u2018may not want him back\u2019 (report)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Hellebuyck<\/a> is back in the news despite still not playing a single minute for the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n

Hellebuyck continues to forfeit his 2026-27 season salary (now over $536k<\/a>) because of a team-issued suspension for missing training camp, but he may reportedly seek a return to the Jets while keeping\u00a0his prior trade request intact. However, according to hockey insider David Pagnotta<\/a>, those on Winnipeg\u2019s current roster may not want to accept his return.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some shift on Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s side, and it wouldn\u2019t shock me if this goes beyond (just) conversation of him returning to Winnipeg to join his team while still wanting a trade a la Dylan Larkin,\u201d Pagnotta told Hello Hockey\u2019s Tom Gazzola and Shawn Belle<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ll see kinda where that goes, monitoring that on our end. There are some whispers that might be evolving and going in that direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early indication is that the locker room just wants to keep rolling with what they\u2019ve got. Quite frankly, starting to hear that they may not want him to come back. We\u2019ll see how things progress here, but it does sound like there are some conversations about maybe Hellebuyck starting to think about rejoining the club while still wanting a trade, while simultaneously hearing that the guys in the room aren\u2019t really going to welcome him with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hellebuyck\u00a0made his trade request public<\/a> in late August. Since then, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has maintained that the team has been trying to resolve the situation, but is focused on making a deal that helps the Jets stay competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to make a trade that works for both sides for a long time, and we\u2019ll continue to do that,\u201d he said in a press conference the day after Hellebuyck\u2019s suspension<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Late last month, there appeared to be potential movement involving the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>, as Sportsnet\u2019s Elliotte Friedman called them a \u201cmotivated pursuer\u201d and said they\u2019d likely send disgruntled defenseman Alexander Nikishkin out in any trade. However, weeks later, that move hasn\u2019t materialized, and neither Hellebuyck nor Nikishkin has played a game this season.<\/p>\n

With Hellebuyck no longer a factor on the team\u2019s depth chart, the Jets claimed former Washington Capitals goaltender Clay Stevenson off waivers<\/a>. Stevenson has since made two starts for the Jets, going 1-1-0 with a 3.10 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage.<\/p>\n

If Hellebuyck returns and is allowed to rejoin Winnipeg\u2019s roster, the Jets will either have to carry three goaltenders or waive Stevenson. In that latter case, if the Capitals are the only team to claim Stevenson, they could send him directly to the AHL\u2019s Hershey Bears. Hershey is currently utilizing a tandem<\/a> featuring Mitch Gibson and veteran Cal Petersen<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor Hellebuyck is back in the news despite still not playing a single minute for the Winnipeg Jets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-880898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}