With training camps about to open, it appears one veteran will not be in attendance following his trade request. TSN’s Darren Dreger relays in the latest Insider Trading segment that he believes that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will not be present when camp opens up.
The veteran made his trade request public last month, noting that it dated back to the start of the offseason. While it looked like a trade with Buffalo was close at the draft, it didn’t materialize while Florida also showed interest but pivoted to a different upgrade in Brady Tkachuk.
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has justifiably set a high bar to clear in order to move the 33-year-old, a bar that no one has reached yet. With most tandems set for the upcoming season now, it will be interesting to see if someone will up their offer enough to get a deal done though right now, Dreger reports that interest is minimal at this time.
Hellebuyck has five years left on his contract with a price tag of $8.5MM per season and while he’s coming off a down year, he won the Vezina Trophy in 2024 and 2025 so a bounce-back is reasonable to expect.
Elsewhere in the Central:
Still with the Jets, defenseman Josh Morrissey made it clear when he met with reporters on Monday (video link) that he loves being with the team and Hellebuyck’s trade request doesn’t change his own outlook on the team and city. The 31-year-old has turned into a top-pairing, all-situations blueliner over the past several seasons and will be in line for a hefty raise two years from now when his current deal worth $6.25MM is up.
Morrissey will be eligible to sign an extension in July and many will be watching to see if he’ll be willing to do so at that time.
While long-time NHL forward Trevor Lewis retired after Los Angeles was eliminated from the playoffs, he’s already back in the game. The Mammoth announced that they’ve hired Lewis in their hockey operations department as a video scout while he’ll also serve as a team ambassador.
Lewis, a Utah native, played in 1,034 career regular season games over parts of 17 NHL seasons, recording 237 points and 1,828 hits.