Devils acquire Hellebuyck from Devils in deal involving Mercer, Daws

The Winnipeg Jets have traded superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to the New Jersey Devils to exchange for forwards Nick Bjugstad, Dawson Mercer and Alexander Command, as well as goaltender Nico Daws.

A second-round pick in 2029 and a seventh-rounder in 2027 is also heading to Winnipeg.

The move comes on the same day that Hellebuyck’s suspension from the team for failing to report to training camp was set to lapse.

Hellebuyck, 33, has spent his entire career with the Jets’ organization after they selected him with the No. 130 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Draft. The UMass Lowell product made his NHL debut in 2015-16, and he wasted little time establishing himself as one of the NHL’s top goalies.

His big breakout came in his age 24 season in 2017-18, when he finished second in the voting for the Vezina Trophy, going 44-11-9 with a .924 SV% and 2.36 GAA. While he didn’t claim the Vezina that year, he has captured it three times since, in 2019-20, 2023-24 and 2024-25, the last of which represents one of the best years by a goalie this century.

Hellebuyck posted a 47-12-3 record for Winnipeg that season along with a .925 SV%, 2.00 GAA and a league-high eight shutouts. He also saved a league-leading 41.57 goals above average, according to Natural Stat Trick, as he backstopped the Jets to the Presidents’ Trophy and into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In addition to earning his third Vezina, Hellebuyck became the first goalie to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP since Carey Price in 2015.

Both Hellebuyck and the Jets regressed last season. Winnipeg went from the best record in the league to out of the postseason entirely. Meanwhile, the Michigan native’s save percentage dipped 30 points down to .895, his GAA climbed to 2.86 and he failed to record a single shutout.

That’s not to say last season was entirely a failure for Hellebuyck, though. As the starting goalie for Team USA at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, he turned in one of the most legendary goaltending performances in the history of the sport. The Americans stunned Canada in overtime of the gold medal game despite being badly outchanced.

Now, as he heads to the Devils, he will quite likely have the opportunity to rectify the one main blemish on his resume with a strong postseason run. In each of his last three playoffs, Hellebuyck has failed to record a save percentage better than .886, and Winnipeg has a 1-3 series record.

In Hellebuyck’s now permanent absence, the Jets will look to turn things around. The club had a scorching hot start to the season, but has given way to a four-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 4-3-3. The Jets sit in sixth place in a tightly-packed Central Division.

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