Photo Courtesy of Jenn G- Wikimedia Commons
Off to a dominant 5-0-0 start with the New Jersey Devils, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck found himself benched by management for his highly anticipated return to Winnipeg.
The 2026-27 National Hockey League (NHL) season is just a few weeks old, and already there have been major stories happening in the front office rather than on the ice. After one of the NHL’s biggest stories seemed to have cooled down, the Connor Hellebuyck saga continues to make even more headlines.
The former Winnipeg Jets goaltender was expected to make his highly anticipated return to Winnipeg for the first time since requesting a trade, failing to show up to training camp, and missing the first month of the season, but was eventually dealt to the New Jersey Devils. Since joining the Devils as their starting goaltender, Hellebuyck is 5-0-0, has a 1.96 Goals Against Average (GAA), a .913 save percentage, and has recorded one shutout.
His return to Winnipeg this past Tuesday has been circled on fans’ and players’ calendars since his trade request, especially because of all the drama and controversy it caused. So, when the New Jersey Devils announced that Hellebuyck would not be facing the Jets, let us just say people were confused, especially because of the explanation.
New Jersey Devils general manager, Sunny Mehta, released a statement saying, “This has been an organizational decision for us that we’ve debated at length. Connor Hellebuyck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg. However, in our estimation, playing in this game would potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability…Even though Connor isn’t playing, at his request, we will coordinate a media availability after Tuesday’s morning skate.”
Now the real question is: will we see a reduction in expected win probability, or will Hellebuyck and the rest of the Devils get destroyed by angry fans and players? I understand that the way he left Winnipeg high and dry like that is obviously going to cause a stir, but the fact of the matter is, Hellebuyck wants to play.
Hellebuyck spoke on his benching, saying, “We definitely had a conversation. I told them my thoughts on it and they told me theirs. At the end of the day, I have to listen to them. I can only push so hard. I was adamant that I wanted to play. But it is what it is.”
If the person who will get burned the most in this ordeal wants to play, why are we putting out the fire before it ever touches the kindling? That is not to say that what the Devils’ front office is doing is wrong. This season alone, we have seen traded players return to their prior team’s home ice and face scrutiny; just look at Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes.
I think the reason that so many fans and players are stunned by this decision is because of the Devils’ reasoning behind it. The decision was not “based on analytics”; that is a poor excuse. Players are always being traded, moving around, and returning to their prior team’s home ice, so the decision to sit Hellebuyck seems like a slap in the face for Jets players, coaches, staff, and fans.
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel spoke on the decision, saying, “I’ve seen a lot of analytics in my life. I’m not sure how this works into the analytics part of it…I know it’s their decision. They can do whatever they want. But that would put closure to it. This doesn’t.”
It is true, the city of Winnipeg deserves some sort of closure from Hellebuyck. He had been with them since being drafted in 2012, and he has won one NHL MVP award and three Vezina Trophies as their starting goaltender. The common courtesy would be to show face and take it, but once again—it was not even his decision to not play.