Connor Hellebuyck cites family in letter to Jets fans
TLDR: Connor Hellebuyck finally explained his Winnipeg trade demand in an Instagram letter, citing family circumstances he will keep private, 6 days before he returns to Winnipeg with the Devils on November 10.
Hellebuyck said back in October that he needed time before he talked about Winnipeg. Wednesday he posted his side on Instagram, and the reason everyone wanted was in the middle of it.
Connor Hellebuyck has posted a message to the #NHLJets organization and fans on his Instagram account, thanking everyone for his experience in Manitoba. He cited “some very challenging circumstances for my family” which he’s going to keep private as grounds for the trade demand.
The key line, per TSN: "There were several considerations that went into my decision, including some very challenging circumstances involving my family." He didn't say any more than that and asked for privacy. Most of the letter is a thank-you: to the organization, to owner Mark Chipman and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, and to Manitoba, where he says he grew as a player and started his family. It's gracious, and it's vague. Whether that's enough for a fanbase that watched this get ugly is another question.
And it did get ugly. Hellebuyck asked for a trade, refused to report to Jets training camp and was suspended for the first 3 weeks of the season. The Devils got him on October 23, right as the suspension was ending, for goalie Nico Daws, forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, prospect Alexander Command (the 12th overall pick in June), a 2029 2nd-round pick and a 2027 7th. That's a franchise goalie with 3 Vezinas and the 2024-25 Hart, signed at an $8.5 million cap hit through 2030-31, and Winnipeg didn't get much for him. He had a full no-move clause, so he had a big say in where he went.
In Utah, people are still sorting out why he didn't end up there. The word from that beat is that Winnipeg was never going to give him to a division rival without a big premium.
Great stuff from LeBrun on the Mammoth. Just as he noted & what I reported last week, a trade between Utah & Winnipeg for Hellebuyck was never in the cards as the divisional tax was simply too high. I’ll have more on that soon.
Back to the letter. Hockey Twitter went through it line by line, and one detail got noticed right away: the guy from Michigan used the Canadian spelling.
Did not go unnoticed: he used Canadian spelling in this message to Jets fans. The 'U' in favourite. Sometimes it's the little things.
The "u" in favourite is a nice touch. It is not going to settle the building next Tuesday. Hellebuyck's first game back at Canada Life Centre in a Devils jersey is November 10, and Cheveldayoff has already called Jets fans "passionate" and "creative" in the lead-up. Not everybody is softening after Wednesday's post, either.
Nobody wants to get booed in their old arena. Too bad. I hope Jets fans let him hear it the entire game.
That's the real question for the next 6 days: did the letter change anything? Saying the reason was family and keeping the details private is fair. Plenty of people in Winnipeg will give him the benefit of the doubt, and plenty won't, because a holdout and a suspension are hard to forget. Either way, he's been perfect so far in New Jersey, 3-0 in his first 3 starts, so he's showing up on a heater. Expect boos at warmups, more boos on every save, and a tribute video that's going to be very awkward to watch.
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