Jets Trade Connor Hellebuyck to the Devils as Saga Ends

Update, Oct 27 afternoon: Keefe confirms Hellebuyck starts Tuesday night at Dallas, his first NHL game since April 13. The update is at the end of this article. Update, Oct 26 evening: After his first Devils practice, Hellebuyck says he is still not ready to share the message or discuss his trade request. The update is at the end of this article. Update, Oct 25 evening: The Heritage Classic is played, Montreal won 2-1, and Hellebuyck’s promised full message to Jets fans has not yet appeared. The update is at the end of this article. Update, Oct 24 afternoon: Hellebuyck has now spoken as a Devil. His first comments, and the message he postponed for Winnipeg fans, are in the update at the end of this article.

Update, Oct 23 afternoon: This page first covered Thursday’s reported plan to delay Hellebuyck’s physical. The trade happened Friday morning, so the delay idea is now history. The full return and what it means are below.

Friday morning ended it. The Winnipeg Jets traded Connor Hellebuyck to the New Jersey Devils, the teams announced, closing the months-long standoff on the exact day the goaltender’s suspension for skipping camp was set to expire. What was supposed to be a procedural decision day — trade, return, or a paid absence — became the day the saga closed instead. The story this site tracked through the holdout timeline and Thursday’s delay-the-physical report has its resolution, and the full return is richer than Friday’s first whispers suggested. The money talk is over too: the tap on the forfeited-salary tracker runs dry as of Friday either way.

What did the Jets get back?

A roster, a prospect and two picks. The confirmed package, per the Devils’ own release: forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goaltender Nico Daws, the rights to forward Alexander Command, New Jersey’s own second-round pick in the 2029 draft and its seventh-rounder in 2027. Command is the headline long-term piece — the Devils took him 12th overall in June, and he has been producing in the Swedish junior league. Mercer, 24, has scored between 17 and 27 goals in each of his five full seasons, all played in full, though he is goalless with four assists through ten games this year. Bjugstad, 34, tore a pectoral muscle in September and will miss four to six months; he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Daws, 25, is the netminder going the other way in the short term, with a career .897 save percentage across 59 NHL games.

What happened to Thursday’s delay plan?

Nothing, which is the point. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported a sense the two sides could agree to push Hellebuyck’s physical, the step that restores him to the active roster after suspension, until after Sunday’s Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium, keeping the outdoor game free of the suspension story. That plan never had to be invoked. A completed trade wipes the procedural question off the board entirely: there is no longer a Winnipeg roster for Hellebuyck to rejoin. The fourth door from Thursday’s reporting — do nothing and wait out the weekend — got closed by the one outcome everyone was waiting for.

Why did the Devils want him now?

Because their net was sinking a playoff-caliber team. New Jersey was 6-4-0 despite a combined .880 save percentage through ten games, with Jake Allen at .883 and Daws at .874, and Jacob Markstrom had been moved to Florida in July. The fit is obvious in a way it rarely is with in-season goalie deals: the Devils are in a window now, the Jets are not, and Hellebuyck at 33 remains the position’s most decorated active player — three Vezinas, the 2025 Hart Trophy, and a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Olympics. He carries an $8.5 million cap hit through 2030-31 with a full no-movement clause he evidently waived to make this happen.

How did the deal come together?

Quietly, then all at once. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported the Jets were getting terrible offers as recently as the weekend; talks progressed Thursday night and closed Friday morning. Elliotte Friedman first pointed to New Jersey as the destination, and Carolina and Utah stayed in the chase to the end, per The Fourth Period. Shesterkin’s season-ending injury in New York had briefly put another star in the goalie-market conversation, but the cap math there never worked. Thursday’s coverage also noted Winnipeg was 4-3-2 without its starter, a start that lowered the club’s urgency while raising the awkwardness. The awkwardness is now gone with him to Newark.

What is still unknown?

The cap math and the debut dates. Hellebuyck’s $8.5 million hit against the Devils’ projected ~$1.16 million in space, with roughly $5.1 million going the other way, leaves a gap no outlet has yet closed — retention or a corresponding move is likely but unconfirmed. No quotes had surfaced from Mercer or Daws, and the cap gap is still unexplained, but Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has now spoken, as detailed in the update below, and Hellebuyck himself has now spoken too, as detailed in the second update below. The reunion is already circled: the Devils play in Winnipeg on Nov. 10, per theScore, which gives the holdout story its epilogue date.

Update: Cheveldayoff breaks his silence

Update note (October 24, 2026): This article originally noted that no quotes had surfaced from either general manager beyond the Devils’ release. It has been updated with Kevin Cheveldayoff’s first public reaction.

The Jets’ general manager is fine with how it ended, and open about wishing it had ended sooner. “I’m very comfortable (with) what we accomplished here over the period of time,” Cheveldayoff said, via NHL.com. “I certainly wish we could have done it four months ago, or whatever, when the opportunity started and we were looking (for a trade), but here we are here today.”

That is the first on-the-record Jets voice since the trade, and it lands on the eve of the game the whole saga orbited. The Jets face Montreal in the Heritage Classic on Sunday, October 25, the fixture Thursday’s delay-the-physical plan was designed to get past. With Hellebuyck now a Devil, the Heritage Classic is simply Winnipeg’s next game, with Stuart Skinner as the undisputed starter. The reunion date still stands: New Jersey visits Winnipeg on November 10.

Update: Hellebuyck speaks in Newark

Update note (October 24, 2026): This article originally noted that no quotes had surfaced from Hellebuyck. He has now spoken, at his Saturday introduction in Newark.

The first words were for Winnipeg, and the rest will wait. Introduced by the Devils on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after the trade, Hellebuyck fielded a question about Jets fans near the end of his press conference. “There is a lot that I need to say,” he said, “but they have their Heritage Classic game coming up, so as respect for them and the celebration of hockey, I’m gonna postpone that to a later date.” Then the line that travelled: “I hope they know I care about them.”

The posture is deliberate. Hellebuyck spent 11 seasons in Winnipeg, won three Vezina Trophies and the 2025 Hart Trophy there, and left after a trade request, a missed training camp and an unpaid suspension. A full farewell on Saturday would have landed on the eve of the Heritage Classic, the outdoor game the whole saga orbited. By postponing it, he handed Winnipeg its weekend back and kept his own message for later. TSN reports the Jets host Montreal outdoors at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday, and the reunion date stands: New Jersey visits Winnipeg on November 10. He also said he does not think he will need long to ramp up before returning, the New York Post reports, after a season spent waiting at home. The Devils introduced him before a game against Los Angeles at the Prudential Center on Saturday, and his debut is now the next date on this story.

Update: Heritage Classic played, message still to come

Update note (October 25, 2026): This article tracked Hellebuyck’s postponed message to Jets fans until after the Heritage Classic. The game is now played, and the message has not yet appeared.

Montreal beat Winnipeg 2-1 in the Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday, theScore reports, with second-period goals from Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle and 34 saves from rookie Jacob Fowler. Isak Rosen’s late goal spoiled Fowler’s shutout, and Montreal killed a Josh Anderson tripping penalty in the final 1:32 to hold on. Stuart Skinner, the undisputed Winnipeg starter this article named on Saturday, was in the Jets’ net for the outdoor game.

The result closes the weekend Hellebuyck’s postponement was designed to protect, but the message itself is still outstanding. No full farewell had surfaced in coverage by Sunday night, so the trigger this article has carried since Saturday, Hellebuyck’s full message to Jets fans, stays open rather than resolved. The next fixed date remains November 10, when New Jersey visits Winnipeg, and his Devils debut remains the other live trigger. The Jets, meanwhile, leave the outdoor game on a losing run that now extends to five straight defeats, with the post-Hellebuyck era starting with a loss in the showcase game itself.

Update: Hellebuyck still not ready, even after the Heritage Classic

Update note (October 26, 2026): This article tracked Hellebuyck’s postponed message to Jets fans until after the Heritage Classic. The game is now played, and on Monday he was asked again. He is still not ready.

The wait continues, and now it has a second data point. Hellebuyck took part in his first official practice with his new Devils teammates in New Jersey on Monday, and after the skate he was asked whether, with Heritage Classic weekend now in the rearview mirror, he was ready to share the message with Jets fans, Illegal Curve reports. “No, I’m not ready yet. The time will be right. Let them enjoy the week and we’ll see where we go from there,” he said.

The final question of his media availability dealt specifically with the reasons behind his trade request out of Winnipeg, Illegal Curve reports, and he was not prepared to elaborate there either. “I don’t want to get into that right now. We can worry about that later,” he said. Illegal Curve’s Dave Minuk reads the delay as a save for the return trip: he suggests Hellebuyck is holding both topics for November 10, when New Jersey visits Winnipeg for the Devils’ only game in Manitoba this season. That is a reporter’s reading, not Hellebuyck’s stated plan, and it should be treated as such. What Hellebuyck himself has said is only that the time is not yet right. The message trigger this article has carried since Saturday therefore stays open, and November 10 remains the next fixed date, with his Devils debut still the other live trigger.

A related holdout closed on Sunday, and it touches this story directly: Alexander Nikishin ended his Hurricanes holdout with a one-year, $3 million deal, after Daily Faceoff reported Carolina had tried to use him as a trade chip in pursuit of Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck went to New Jersey instead, and Nikishin stayed in Carolina, which is why the two sagas now end in different cities.

Update: Hellebuyck starts tonight in Dallas

Update note (October 27, 2026): This article tracked Hellebuyck’s Devils debut as a live trigger since the trade. The debut is now set, so that trigger is resolved; the full message to Jets fans stays open.

The wait is over, and it lasted four days. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed Tuesday after the morning skate that Hellebuyck starts against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, NHL.com reports. “He is going tonight,” Keefe said. “He’s eager to go. He feels like he’s ready to go.” Hellebuyck was the first goalie off the ice at American Airlines Center, the traditional tell that he is the starter, and the game is at 8 p.m. ET.

It is his first NHL game since April 13, 2026, the Jets’ regular-season finale, a gap created by the trade request, the missed training camp and the unpaid suspension that ended with Friday’s trade. He practiced with the Devils for the first time on Monday, after weeks skating in Michigan while suspended, and told reporters then that he had been looking forward to the day for a while. “It was fun,” he said, NHL.com reports. “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.”

Keefe’s reasoning for not waiting is the schedule. “There’s no practice time available,” he said, NHL.com reports. “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.” The Devils open a three-game road trip in Dallas, then visit Colorado on Wednesday and Vegas on Friday, and the morning skate was the last checkpoint before the decision. “This morning skate was the last little checkpoint for him to make sure he’s feeling good,” Keefe said.

The debut resolves one of the two triggers this article has carried since Saturday. What stays open is the other one: the full message to Jets fans, which Hellebuyck said on Monday he is still not ready to share. November 10, when New Jersey visits Winnipeg, remains the next fixed date for that message, and the result in Dallas on Tuesday night becomes the new first data point on whether the Devils’ gamble on a goalie who has not played since April pays off immediately. The cap mechanics of the deal, meanwhile, still have not been fully explained.

Update: Hellebuyck wins his Devils debut in Dallas

Update note (October 27, 2026): This article tracked Hellebuyck’s Devils debut as a live trigger since the trade, and an earlier October 27 update recorded only that the start was set. The game is now played, and the result resolves that trigger for real.

The wait ended with a win, and it was not close. Hellebuyck stopped 16 of 17 shots as the New Jersey Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night, the Associated Press reports, in his first NHL game since April 13, 2026. Nico Hischier scored twice, Jack and Luke Hughes added a goal and an assist each, and the Devils won their fourth straight game while ending Dallas’s five-game winning streak.

Keefe’s verdict was unqualified. “I thought he was exceptional,” the Devils coach said, adding that he did not think the team could have asked for much more from a goalie who had not played in over six months. Hellebuyck’s own account matched: “It was a lot of fun. I thought the guys in front of me played a perfect game for me to get acclimated,” he said. “Low amount of shots, blocking everything, keeping everything to the outside. Letting me see things, letting me touch the puck a lot. I have to work through a little bit of the rust, but I just thought it was a perfect game top to bottom.”

The details around the result matter for what comes next. Hellebuyck faced only one practice with the Devils before the start, after weeks skating in Michigan while suspended, and he said he had been ready for two months. The only goal he allowed was Hryckowian’s second-period deflection of a Tyler Myers point shot. Jack Hughes briefly left the game after taking a high stick to the face and appearing to spit out a tooth, then returned with a full face shield, Reuters reports. Dallas’s Jamie Benn and New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon dropped the gloves after Jesper Boqvist made it 3-0, and Stars defenseman Kyle Capobianco left in the third period with an apparent leg injury after a hit from Timo Meier.

The debut resolves the last on-ice trigger this article carried. What stays open is everything off the ice: the full message to Jets fans, which Hellebuyck said on Monday he is still not ready to share, with November 10, when New Jersey visits Winnipeg, as the next fixed date; the cap mechanics of the trade, which still have not been fully explained; and the Winnipeg debuts of Mercer, Daws and Command. The Devils continue their road trip at Colorado on Wednesday.

Update: Hellebuyck’s letter to Jets fans finally arrives

Update note (November 4, 2026): This article tracked Hellebuyck’s full message to Jets fans as its main open trigger since October 24. The message is now posted, so that trigger is resolved; November 10 becomes a return game rather than a message deadline.

Eleven days after the trade, and nine days after he last said he was not ready, the letter appeared on Wednesday on Hellebuyck’s Instagram account. NHL.com reports the post is titled “Letter to Jets Fans”, and it opens where his whole Winnipeg story opens: gratitude for the life his family built there, the place where he grew as a player and started his family, and the Manitoba outdoors, with fishing trips among his favourite memories away from the rink.

Then comes the part he had refused to discuss for two weeks. “I know my decision to request a trade was disappointing and frustrating for many people, especially those who supported me throughout my career,” he wrote. “I understand those feelings, and I want everyone to know it was an extremely difficult decision.” The reason, as far as he will go, is in the next passage, which Sportsnet quotes in full: “There were several considerations that went into my decision, including some very challenging circumstances involving my family. After a lot of thought and discussion, we ultimately felt that making a change was the best thing for our family. We’ve chosen to keep those personal circumstances private, and I hope people can respect that.”

What the letter does not do matters as much as what it does. It does not name the circumstances, does not revisit the suspension or the missed training camp, and does not litigate the trade itself. The speculation that has filled that gap, including the suggestion that his family was threatened after the Olympics, is not addressed, and this article does not repeat it as fact. What Hellebuyck offers instead is thanks: to owner Mark Chipman and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, to teammates, coaches, trainers, equipment staff and everyone behind the scenes, and to the fans, closing with: “I’ll never forget the pride I felt representing Winnipeg, and I wish the Jets and the entire community nothing but the best.”

The timing is its own statement. The letter arrived six days before Hellebuyck walks back into Canada Life Centre as a Devil on Tuesday, November 10. He arrives there 5-0-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average in five New Jersey starts, TSN reports, holding franchise records for games, starts, wins and shutouts in Winnipeg. The message trigger that ran through this article for twelve days is now closed. What stays open is the return itself, the Winnipeg debuts of Mercer, Daws and Command, and the cap mechanics that still have not been fully explained.

November 9 note: The return took its strangest turn before the puck dropped. The Devils will not start Hellebuyck in Winnipeg on Tuesday, with GM Sunny Mehta citing a potential reduction in expected win probability, and Jets coach Scott Arniel has said Hellebuyck “gave up on us.”

November 10 note: The return game is played. The Jets beat the Devils 4-2 in Winnipeg, with Dawson Mercer scoring twice against the team that traded him and Nico Daws making 19 saves for his first win as a Jet.