Grading the Hellebuyck trade: Devils (finally) get their goalie as Jets head for uncertain future
The Connor Hellebuyck era is over in Winnipeg. The signature player of the Jets’ second iteration, Hellebuyck won everything but the Stanley Cup in Manitoba, collecting three Vezina Trophies and a Hart Trophy. Hellebuyck had grown vocally discontent with Winnipeg’s lackluster follow-up to a Presidents’ Trophy win in 2024-25, though, having apparently lost confidence that the Jets in front of him could compete as he waded into his late prime.
Suspended without pay for skipping camp, ‘Bucky’ crossed the Rubicon and forced an exit from the only organization he’s ever known. An acrimonious end to a brilliant tenure in the prairies opened the door for the New Jersey Devils and GM Sunny Mehta, who had kept his interest in a player his predecessor, Tom Fitzgerald, had long courted close to the vest.
The Devils have been searching for a goalie since Corey Schneider’s prime, which, as you may know, was a while ago. They have one now in Hellebuyck, who would walk into the Hall of Fame on his first try if he retired today. Will he do what Jacob Markstrom could not and complete Jersey’s Cup-contention puzzle?
The Jets, meanwhile, have needed an out from their reliance on Hellebuyck and a thirtysomething core for some time. That one seed back in 2025 felt like this roster’s last real chance at the Cup during its collective prime, and a scorched-earth rebuild was never on the cards given how closely Winnipeg’s survival as a franchise is tied to its season-ticket sales. That means getting value via trades in lean years, especially for players of Hellebuyck’s quality. Can Dawson Mercer, young Alexander Command, and Co. help the Jets delay their decline?
Read on for the answers to those questions and more in a rare October edition of Daily Faceoff Trade Grades.
New Jersey Devils
Receive:
G Connor Hellebuyck, 33 – $8.5-million cap hit through 2031
Hellebuyck is not the Olympic hero NJ fans expected (adding his hefty long-term contract to a crowded cap sheet might actually end the Quinn Hughes dream), but he is the one they needed. Mehta played coy about his situation in goal after expertly offloading Fitzgerald’s Markstrom mistake. We should have known he wouldn’t stand pat with veteran platoon goalie Jake Allen and the untested duo of Nico Daws (now a Jet) and Remi Poirier, a waiver claim who has yet to debut.
It’s not just that Allen isn’t a terribly inspiring Game 1 starter; it’s that Jersey hasn’t had one of those since they rode a 39-year-old Martin Brodeur to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. Even Schneider, who performed admirably in Brodeur’s impossibly daunting shadow, made his lone playoff appearance for the Devils after a lackluster season in 2017-18. Since then? Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and a broken-down Markstrom.
Hellebuyck is a heck of a lot closer to Brodeur than to that riffraff, if Hellebuyck is 33 and coming off the worst season of his career. That’s what 2025-26 was for the 345-game winner, despite a gold medal game performance for Team USA that was immediately immortalized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hellebuyck’s “collapse” was indicative of how dominant he usually is. How good must a goalie be if league-average numbers (2.86 GAA, .895 SV%, .561 QS%) cause a panic? Karel Vejmelka won 38 games in Utah with a near-identical line (2.75, .897, .540).
Hellebuyck’s age is not the issue other potential suitors would have suggested; more likely, those teams wanted to squeeze a Winnipeg club that desperately needed a clean break in an untenable situation. As was the case for so many greats, the American’s best stretch came after he turned 30, when he ripped off consecutive Vezina Trophies and took home an MVP in the two seasons before last. It’s entirely reasonable to expect he’ll still be the Devils’ main man late into his 30s, and, even in the wacky world of goalie contracts, he’s not on a prohibitive salary for what he brings.
Mehta, who fixed the Devils’ other main issue (not counting the injuries) by rounding out his forward depth with Evan Rodrigues, Anthony Mantha, Luke Evangelista, and Jesper Boqvist during the offseason, has watched a team with all the makings of a Cup contender for the past three weeks. They have stars in Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and captain Nico Hischier. They have depth, especially on a veteran-led blue line that recently got Johnny Kovacevic back from the IR. They lead the NHL with an eye-watering 63.74 xGF% at 5-on-5.
The Devils just needed saves, so Mehta went out and got the guy who was the best in the world at getting them as recently as 2025. If Hellebuyck’s admittedly shaky playoff record is now New Jersey’s biggest issue, it’s because it’s almost impossible to imagine they won’t go into the postseason with a real chance of making a run. That’s not a bad place to be.
Add in the fact that New Jersey lost nothing it really needed (Dawson Mercer isn’t clearly better than Evangelista as a top-six winger, nor Rodrigues as third-line center, and Alexander Command would have been gravy in a deep center group), and this is an absolute win that should put some fear into the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Grade: A+
Winnipeg Jets
Receive:
C Dawson Mercer, 24 – $4-million cap hit through 2027 (RFA)
C Nick Bjugstad, 34 – $1.75-million cap hit through 2027
Rights to prospect C Alexander Command, 18
2029 2nd-round pick
2027 7th-round pick
It’s a tough day in Winnipeg. Hellebuyck might not have electrified as instantly and as brilliantly as the late, great Dale Hawerchuk or changed the hockey landscape forever like the iconic Bobby Hull but, still, for a generation of fans, Hellebuyck was the Winnipeg Jets. By achievement, he’s the easy (and correct) answer as the greatest player in team history. Now, Hellebuyck is gone, and not for the sort of trade package you could easily envision dulling the pain a few years down the road.
The timing killed this trade for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. Hellebuyck did not publicly confirm his eagerness to leave the team, which had been rumored since April, until the end of August, when all 32 teams were content to try their hands with who they had in goal and wait out the Jets. That’s just what the Devils did; there was no way ‘Chevy’ could let his goalie report to the team when his suspension was up, especially after frosty comments from longtime teammates Kyle Lowry and captain Adam Lowry.
Cheveldayoff had to take the best offer in front of him, and while I have no doubt he did, are we to believe neither the Buffalo Sabres nor Utah Mammoth stepped up with something more substantial amid their respective busy summers? Instead of snapping up a Juri Kulich or even a Tij Iginla, Cheveldayoff had to hit the eject button for a return that would get phone numbers blocked if it were offered for any other former MVP not named Corey Perry. That’s a tough pill to swallow when, again, the Jets are in no position to lose on purpose unless they want to move to Phoenix. Again.
To any Jets fans reading this (sorry about that Phoenix comment), you still didn’t come away with nothing. Dawson Mercer is a good, versatile player with solid physical tools. Mercer’s 27-goal, 56-point effort in 2022-23 looks like a mirage in light of his returns since (19 G, 37 P per 82 GP), but he’s a quick, direct forward who could solve a problem for Winnipeg in the medium term if he can become a rush outlet for talented winger Gabe Vilardi; Vilardi has struggled away from top forwards Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
The Jets are also better situated than the Devils, who shifted Mercer around their lineup constantly based on the health of Jack Hughes, to give the still-young Newfoundlander a sustained run as their 2C. Viggo Bjorck (0 P, -4 in 10 GP), who was only drafted last June, is currently shoehorned into that role ahead of schedule.
It’s Command, a big, strong kid (6’1, 183 lbs) who has consistently dominated at the Swedish U-20 level, who’s the real headliner for Winnipeg, though. At 18, he is much less of a known entity than Mercer and could yet soar past any expectations analysts currently have for him. For what it’s worth, those projections are already bullish. My colleague, resident DFO prospects wiz Steven Ellis, outlined some of his strengths in an appropriately timed piece this afternoon.
“If there’s one defining trait in Command’s game, it’s his hockey sense. He reads the ice exceptionally well, allowing him to make high-percentage plays both off the rush and in the defensive zone.,” Ellis wrote. “Command projects as a high-floor No. 2 or No. 3 center capable of producing 45 to 50 points while handling heavy defensive responsibilities. He has the versatility to play on both special-teams units, and he’s a trustworthy option in late-game 6-on-5 or 5-on-6 situations.”
All told, Winnipeg walks away with a decent NHL player, an easily-projectable future NHLer (that matters given slow pro starts for top prospects Brayden Yager and Colby Barlow), a second-round dart throw in 2029, a well-liked bottom-sixer in Nick Bjugstad who could yet expand this trade tree, if only marginally, and Nico Daws, a young-ish AHL/NHL tweener who will get his chances to establish himself as starter Stuart Skinner’s batterymate.
It’s not awful, but I can’t shake the feeling Winnipeg might get a similar return for Dylan Samberg or the good version of Neal Pionk. Considering the player they lost would be far more valuable under different circumstances, that has to sting.
Grade: C-
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