WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets have made a major move, trading goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Dawson Mercer, goaltender Nico Daws, forward Nick Bjugstad, prospect Alexander Command and draft picks.
The deal brings an end to Hellebuyck’s time in Winnipeg and gives the Jets a collection of players and future assets as the organization looks to reshape its roster.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff addressed the trade on Friday, discussing the decision to move Hellebuyck, the return from New Jersey and what the deal means for Winnipeg moving forward.
“When you go through a process like this, and again, a goalie market is a little bit of a different market. You find out who has legitimate interests. You find out who has legitimate needs,” said Cheveldayoff.
“You go through the process of what assets they have within their organization, and more importantly, what assets they are willing to move. So, very comfortable with what we accomplished here over the period of time.”
Trading a goaltender of Hellebuyck’s calibre is a significant decision for any organization. The former Vezina Trophy winner has been a major part of Winnipeg’s success, making the decision to move him one that carries considerable implications for the team.
The Jets are in the midst of a four-game losing streak after their 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars on Thursday, but Cheveldayoff said that had nothing to do with the timing of the deal with New Jersey and addressed the rumours that there were better deals on the table four to five months ago.
“I guess people can talk about hypothetical deals and different things that they talked about whether again the perceived what we talked about with different teams at different points in time,” said Cheveldayoff.
“I do know the reality of things that we'd be sitting here certainly with the one player that we have right now, regardless of what position we picked at the draft on draft day, and that would have been Viggo Björck, regardless of where I was going to be drafting, if he was available, he was going to be there.”
The Jets bring in an established NHL forward in Mercer who is only 24 years old, Daws provides another goaltending option, while Command and the draft picks give Winnipeg additional assets to develop for the future.
“Dawson actually gives us a lot of different options in the sense that when he broke in, he broke in as a centre so he has that ability should we need or desire at some point in time. He’s always got that flexibility,” said Cheveldayoff.
“But he’s a younger player still in the sense that there’s lots of runway in front of him and I think he fits into this group. And I think him being around a Kyle Connor and being around a Mark Scheifele is really going to help a player like that with his type of game.”
Command is currently playing in Sweden with Örebro, but there had been some talk about him coming over to North America to play college hockey at North Dakota. He went 12th overall in the 2026 Draft, and from what the Jets GM said, he was a player the Jets had pretty high on their list.
“When I talked to Alex this morning, again, he'd already reached out to Viggo, already had the text chats going and stuff like that. So, again, I think there's some great synergy with a lot of our young prospects coming up,” said Cheveldayoff.
“Whether it's obviously Viggo and Alfons (Freij) are here, but now Alex and obviously Sascha (Boumedienne), who we hope to get into the fold at some point in time, real soon.”
Daws will add more depth at the goaltending position and the team will carry three for the time being. Bjugstad recently had surgery and is out four-to-six months.
"He's got a torn muscle. He'll eventually come here. I think there's, I don't want to say a setback but there's some things that he's still under doctors' care that I think need to be addressed,” said Cheveldayoff.
“I guess as you can appreciate four phone calls today: Every situation is different with the different guys, and we're still going through that process. But he is out long term. He was on LTI for them, but we don't need him on LTI. He's just on IR for us."
Cheveldayoff admitted the process hasn’t been fun trying to deal one of the greatest players in franchise history but is ready to move on.
“At some point in time, and I think starting in the next 10 minutes here when this press conference is done, this is over, our chapter,” said Cheveldayoff.
“I talked to the players. When I talked to them at the opening of the season, I said, look, the summer's over. This part's over here. This is onward now. This is the Winnipeg Jets, and the 23 guys that are going to be in that locker room, that's all we care about."
