WINNIPEG — The standoff between Vezina and Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets has reached critical mass, with the 33-year-old Olympic gold medal-winner suspended after failing to report to training camp. The veteran netminder reportedly requested a trade after the regular season, but general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has been unable to secure an offer he deems equal value for the goaltender, who has five years remaining on his contract at $8.5 million per season.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and TSN's Pierre LeBrun indicated last week that the Florida Panthers had pursued Hellebuyck before redirecting assets elsewhere. According to their reporting, the assets offered in the proposed deal for Hellebuyck were instead traded to Ottawa for winger Brady Tkachuk and to New Jersey for goalie Jacob Markstrom. The same reports identified three clubs still in the mix for Hellebuyck — the Buffalo Sabres, Utah Mammoth and Carolina Hurricanes.
Buffalo reportedly came closest to completing a trade, though how close remains open to interpretation. Friedman said on this week's 32 Thoughts podcast that Winnipeg wanted the fourth overall pick Buffalo obtained in the Bowen Byram deal, while Buffalo did not want to give up the eighth overall pick, which it used to select Swedish forward Viggo Bjorck.
The biggest potential impediment now centers on Buffalo's crease. Friedman believes Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has put the Jets on his five-team no-trade clause, and with Winnipeg wanting a goalie in return as part of any Hellebuyck deal, that clause would make Buffalo a longshot as his final destination.