A once private trade request has now gone public, as Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has made his wishes known.

In a statement released Thursday through his agent, Ray Petkau of Alpha Hockey, Hellebuyck says the best path forward was moving on.

“Several months ago, I privately requested a trade,” said Hellebuyck in the statement. “I have tried to handle the situation quietly and respectfully while giving the organization time to explore its options.

“With training camp approaching, I felt it was important to publicly confirm my request. My position has not changed, and I believe moving on is the best path forward for me and my family.”

Hellebuyck, 33, was selected by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2012 draft, and it wasn’t until the 2014-15 season that he turned pro, having spent a pair of seasons at the NCAA’s UMass-Lowell. That season was spent with the American Hockey League’s St. John’s IceCaps, where he posted a .921 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average, along with a 28-22-6 record.

The AHL club relocated to Manitoba the following year, and Hellebuyck would get his first taste of NHL action between November and February, posting a stellar .918 save percentage, 2.34 goals-against average and a 13-11-1 record. A then-injured Ondřej Pavelec got healthy, and Hellebuyck would return to Manitoba.

He took over the crease in 2017-18, and has since become a workhorse like no other, playing in a league-leading 599 games — 41 more than the second-placed Andrei Vasilevskiy, 61 more than the third-placed Sergei Bobrovsky and a staggering 102 more than the fourth-placed John Gibson.

Despite providing value like no other goaltender, the Jets have struggled to build around him. They went on a run to the Western Conference Final in 2017-18, but lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights and have yet to get out of the second round since.

Winnipeg had its best regular season in franchise history in 2024-25, coinciding with the best year of Hellebuyck’s career, posting a .925 save percentage, 2.00 goals-against average and eight shutouts, leading him to win the Vezina Trophy, Hart Trophy, and William M. Jennings Trophy. They would go on to beat the St. Louis Blues in a first-round series in seven games, but couldn’t solve the Dallas Stars in the second round, falling in six games.

The Jets and Hellebuyck, however, regressed in a big way last season, failing to make the playoffs for just the third time in his 11-year career. He posted meagre numbers, a .895 save percentage, and 2.86 goals against average, but represented his country, the U.S.A., at the Olympics, posting a .956 save percentage and 1.18 goals against average, winning all five of his starts enroute to a gold medal.

Rumours have swirled for months about Hellebuyck potentially requesting a trade, and in late June, NHL insider Frank Servalli reported the Carolina Hurricanes attempted to make a deal for him involving restricted free agent Alexander Nikishin, who remains unsigned.

This summer, the Jets signed former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner to a two-year deal carrying a $3.75-million cap hit.

Hellebuyck is in the third year of a seven-year contract carrying an $8.5 million cap hit. He has control over where he can be traded to, with a full no-movement clause that runs through the end of the upcoming 2026-27 season. The final four years of his deal see the trade protection shift to a 10-team approved trade list.

Zach Laing is Daily Faceoff Edmonton’s managing editor and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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