Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck Fails to Report to Training Camp; Suspended by Team – The Hockey Writers – Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has failed to report to training camp and has been suspended by the team.

The contract breach is latest development in the ongoing saga between the disgruntled netminder and the organization. Last month, Hellebuyck confirmed through his agent that he has requested a trade out of Winnipeg after months of speculation and rumours.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s ask for Hellebuyck is clearly very high, and justifiably so, considering Hellebuyck has three Vezina Trophies, two William M. Jennings Trophies, and a Hart Trophy to his name.

With five years left on the contract he signed in 2023 to be, in his words, a “Jet for life,” Hellebuyck has zero leverage to actually get out of Winnipeg despite failing to report. Any trade will be on the organization’s timeline, not his, and will only happen when Cheveldayoff gets an offer he thinks represents fair value for the best goalie of the last decade.

Darren Dreger recently reported that the offers so far have been “terrible,” casting some doubt as to when Hellebuyck will ultimately be moved.

To put it in perspective as to how drastic and unprecedented Hellebuyck’s action is, the last player to refuse to report to a team he is under contract with was the Ottawa Senators’ Alexei Yashin in 1999. The Senators suspended Yashin and he missed the entire 1999-2000 season before returning to play for them in for 2000-01.

By suspending Hellebuyck, the Jets will not have to pay him any of the $8.5 million he was owed this season, nor will it count against the salary cap, as per PuckPedia.

If Hellebuyck is not traded before the start of the regular season — or is traded but an NHL-calibre goalie is not part of the return package — the Jets will go with offseason signing Stuart Skinner as their starter and either Domenic DiVincentiis or Thomas Milic as their backup (barring a trade for a goalie not involving Hellebuyck or a waiver pickup.)