Hellebuyck to make first start for Devils against Stars

Connor Hellebuyck will make his New Jersey Devils and 2026-27 season debut Tuesday, just four days after his blockbuster trade from the Winnipeg Jets.

The three-time Vezina Trophy winner voted as the best goalie in the NHL and the 2025 Hart Trophy winner as most valuable player, was the first goalie off the ice at American Airlines Arena, where the Devils will play the Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; Prime Video, MSGSN).

"He is going tonight," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He's eager to go.

He feels like he's ready to go.

Hellebuyck has not played an NHL game since April 13, 2026, the regular-season finale for the Jets, who missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After the season ended, the 33-year-old expressed frustration with the Jets' season, and on Aug.

27 made it public that he had requested a trade despite having five seasons ($8.5 million average annual value) remaining on the contract he signed with Winnipeg on Oct. 9, 2023.

"Really, when you trade for someone like Connor Hellebuyck who's used to playing a lot and hasn't played yet this season, you want to get him going," Keefe said. "He wants to play, so that was really it.

This morning skate was the last little checkpoint for him to make sure he's feeling good.

When Hellebuyck did not report for training camp last month, the Jets suspended him. The ban was set to end Friday, but he was traded to New Jersey for forward Dawson Mercer, goalie Nico Daws, forward Nick Bjugstad, the rights to unsigned draft choice forward Alexander Command, New Jersey's own second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and its seventh-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Hellebuyck, who helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, spent several weeks skating in Michigan while suspended. He practiced with the Devils for the first time Monday.

"It was fun," Hellebuyck said."I've been really looking forward to this day for a while now, and it felt good getting acclimated with a new group and having some fun out there."

The Devils (7-4-0) begin a three-game road trip Tuesday, the first of a back-to-back set. They visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

"There's no practice time available," Keefe said. "That's just the reality of the schedule where we're at.

So get him in, and you try to get him in a rhythm and get him going. To that end, no reason to wait.

Hellebuyck has 345 wins, third-most among active goalies behind Sergei Bobrovsky (459) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (375). Only Vasilevskiy (368) has more since Hellebuyck made his NHL debut in the 2015-16 season.

Hellebuyck has also started at least 50 games in nine of the past 10 seasons, only failing to do so in the shortened 2020-21 season when he started 45 of the Jets' 56 games.

“For Connor's point of view, from the moment he arrived in New Jersey, or really I think from the moment of the trade, he's very direct and confident in saying that he's ready to play," Keefe said. "He's been preparing for something to happen and wanting to make sure that the moment something happened, he was ready to go.

he's really put in the work, and there's obviously a great career there and a long track record of success, so you've got to give him trust in it too."

NHL.com independent correspondent Robert Tiffin contributed to this report