Connor Hellebuyck's name is back in trade rumors, with insiders linking the Winnipeg Jets goaltender to the Colorado Avalanche.
Wednesday afternoon, insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a report that's got hockey fans buzzing all over again.
"By the way, I had a couple of teams say to me they wondered if Colorado took a shot at Connor Hellebuyck," Friedman said.
"I don't know what they would offer, but there were a couple of teams that were like, they kind of suspected that the Avalanche considered it."
Hellebuyck carries an $8,500,000 cap hit and has posted a .895 save percentage across 57 appearances this season.
Winnipeg sits 26th overall in the league standings, buried in a four-game losing streak.
The Jets are 5-5-0 over their last 10 games, a stretch that hasn't done much to calm the noise around their franchise goaltender.
Colorado's crease already looks stacked, so why the buzz
Here's the part that makes the rumor feel odd. Colorado already leads the NHL at 55-16-11, sitting first overall.
Scott Wedgewood is running a .921 save percentage for the Avalanche, one of the better marks in the league.
Mackenzie Blackwood has chipped in a .903 save percentage of his own, giving Jared Bednar a tandem that's actually working.
Adding Hellebuyck to that mix would be like buying a third snowblower when the first two haven't stopped clearing the driveway.
Would it make Colorado better on paper? Maybe. Would it make sense with the cap sheet already carrying MacFarland's other big deals? That's a different question entirely.
Bob's take here is simple. If the Avalanche actually did this, it's a bad fit, not a bad idea in theory, just bad given what's already working in that net.
Friedman was careful to frame this as speculation among rival executives, not a confirmed pursuit.
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But when multiple teams start comparing notes on who might've called about a $8,500,000 goaltender, that's not nothing.
Winnipeg hasn't said a word publicly. Scott Arniel and Kevin Cheveldayoff have stayed quiet, and that silence is doing a lot of the talking right now.
Should the Avalanche have pursued Connor Hellebuyck despite their goaltending already ranking among the league's best?
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