WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets have taken the next step in the Connor Hellebuyck saga.
The Jets suspended their veteran goaltender Wednesday after he failed to report to training camp, bringing a summer of uncertainty surrounding the three-time Vezina Trophy winner into a new place.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff addressed the media Thursday morning at hockey for all centre, where he provided further clarity on the organization’s decision and the situation surrounding Hellebuyck.
“Training camp opened yesterday with medicals in the morning, and team dinner last night. Unfortunately, Connor Hellebuyck chose not to attend these functions,” said Cheveldayoff in his opening statement.
“And so consequently, last night I reached out to his representatives and let them know that we would be suspending Connor for failure to report to camp, pursuant to his standard players contract in the CBA.”
The move comes less than three weeks after Hellebuyck publicly confirmed through his agent, Ray Petkau, that he had requested a trade from Winnipeg.
Hellebuyck said at the time that he had made the request privately several months earlier and that he believed moving on was the best path forward for himself and his family.
Cheveldayoff had said during the off-season that the organization would listen to offers for its franchise goaltender, while making it clear that any potential deal would have to make sense for the Jets. There has been talk this week that the offers the Jets have received for Hellebuyck have not been great.
“We're talking about moving a player that has been very, very important to this franchise, and is a very good player in the National Hockey League,” said Cheveldayoff.
“And we expect, I guess, that a level of return would be commensurate to that. So, that's really been the premise.”
Winnipeg signed Stuart Skinner to a two-year contract during the off-season, giving the organization an established NHL goaltender who can now assume the starting role as camp opens.
The Jets also have Thomas Milic, Domenic DiVincentiis, Isaac Poulter and Alex Worthington at camp which starts on Thursday.
For a team preparing to bounce back from a disappointing 2025-26 season, the timing creates another significant storyline before the first preseason game has even been played.
Hellebuyck, 33, is entering the third season of a seven-year, $59.5-million contract with an $8.5-million annual average value. He has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Jets after Winnipeg selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
He has established himself as the most accomplished goaltender in franchise history, winning the Vezina Trophy three times and the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 2024-25.
That 2024-25 season was one of the best campaigns of Hellebuyck's career. He went 47-12-3 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage, helping the Jets finish with the NHL's best regular-season record.
Last season was a different story. Hellebuyck went 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 57 appearances as the Jets finished 35-35-12 and missed the playoffs.
The Jets will now turn their attention toward training camp and the players who are in Winnipeg, while the organization's efforts to determine a path forward with Hellebuyck continue.
“For me I have to try and keep a level head. I can’t let emotion come into play in any regard. It’s about trying to find something that can push this organization forward in a different fashion with a different player or players. So that remains the thought process,” said Cheveldayoff.
"That was the thought process from I guess the moment my head took the news from the request. That’s what it has to be. But it can’t get emotional, it can’t get personal. Connor Hellebuyck’s part of our family until he’s not part of our family.”
Winnipeg opens its preseason schedule Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers before beginning the regular season Oct. 2 against the Boston Bruins at Canada Life Centre.
