Connor Hellebuyck spent more than a decade as the most important player on the Winnipeg Jets, won three Vezina Trophies, and in 2025 became the first goaltender in NHL history to win the Vezina, Hart, Jennings, and Presidents’ Trophy in a single season. On October 23, 2026, he was traded to the New Jersey Devils, ending one of the longer drags in recent NHL offseason history. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke to reporters afterward and said his only regret was that it had not happened sooner.
“I certainly wished we could have done it five or four months ago,” Cheveldayoff said. He described the goalie trade market as constrained, with few teams carrying both a genuine need at the position and the cap room and assets to make a deal work. Hellebuyck had requested a trade during the offseason and did not report to training camp, leading the Jets to suspend him on September 16. That suspension was set to expire the day of the trade, meaning the team would have owed him his salary regardless. He was in the third year of a seven-year, $59.5 million contract.
What Winnipeg Received
The Jets came away with forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to prospect Alexander Command, a 2029 second-round pick, and a 2027 seventh-round pick.
Mercer, 24, is the centerpiece of the return. He scored 20 goals last season and can play center. Cheveldayoff said he expects Mercer to benefit from skating alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. Bjugstad is out four to six months after surgery on a torn pectoral muscle. Command was New Jersey’s 12th pick in the 2026 draft and is currently playing in Sweden’s junior league. Daws gives the Jets a third goaltending option behind Stuart Skinner, signed to a two-year deal in July, and Clay Stevenson, claimed off waivers in September.
The State of the Jets
Winnipeg entered the trade sitting at 4-3-3, with Skinner playing steadily in net. Cheveldayoff said the organization’s draft plans at the eighth overall pick were never tied to the trade talks and had been set on Viggo Bjorck independently. He said he called Hellebuyck to wish him well and described the parting without hard feelings, while making clear through his own timeline comments that the front office had been ready to move on for some time.