Connor Hellebuyck trade talks stall over Jets' asking price

The holdup isn't a lack of interest in a 3-time Vezina winner. It's what Winnipeg wants back for him.

Daily Faceoff

@DailyFaceoff

"[Winnipeg] want futures as part of a deal, but they don't want that being the centrepieces of the deal" David Pagnotta on what's holding up a Connor Hellebuyck trade. Presented by @bet365ca #bet365

That's the whole standoff in 1 sentence. Picks and prospects are fine as sweeteners, but the Jets aren't going to move the best goalie of his generation for a pile of maybes. They want real hockey players who help now. According to Bleacher Report's roundup of the insider reporting, Winnipeg hasn't been offered a trade it considers fair, and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff cares more about getting this right than getting it done fast.

Here's how it got this ugly. Hellebuyck went public in late August and said he had asked for a trade months earlier. In mid-September he told the Jets he wouldn't report to training camp, and they suspended him. It hasn't gone away quietly since then. He also has a full no-move clause this season, so he has a big say in where he ends up, and Bleacher Report notes he reportedly has no interest in Canadian teams. Last season didn't help either: a career-low.895 save percentage while the Jets went 35-35-12 and missed the playoffs.

Buffalo is the team that keeps coming up, and that means Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen keeps coming up too. Over the summer the obvious version of this deal sent UPL to Winnipeg. The Sabres GM is now saying out loud that Luukkonen is part of the plan in Buffalo.

Daily Faceoff

@DailyFaceoff

Sabres GM says Luukkonen will be ‘big part’ of team’s future as Hellebuyck trade rumors persist: t.co/OC1FcnKNNq

Take that with a grain of salt, because every GM loves a player right up until the moment he's traded. The bigger problem for a straight swap is that Winnipeg may not need a goalie back. Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson have held up in Hellebuyck's absence, so a deal could become a 3-teamer where Luukkonen goes somewhere else, with the Rangers mentioned as a fit after Igor Shesterkin's season-ending injury. Buffalo also reportedly won't include Zach Benson, and that's exactly the kind of established young piece Pagnotta says the Jets want at the centre of a deal.

So it's a game of chicken, and the clock is real. The suspension ends Friday. After that Winnipeg either trades him, pays him to stay away, or brings back a guy who very clearly doesn't want to be there. Buffalo, Carolina, LA and Edmonton have all been mentioned. Whoever caves first on the price wins one of the best goalies in the world this week.