Hellebuyck Trade: The 8 Teams That Actually Fit

We finally have a shape for what a Connor Hellebuyck trade is going to cost.

Jesse Granger of The Athletic ran through eight teams that fit on Saturday, and tucked inside it is the piece nobody had spelled out yet. Jets beat writer Murat Ates summed up the ask: a top-six forward, a goalie who can share the net with Stuart Skinner, and a first-round pick or an asset in that range.

Ates wrote that Winnipeg will try to delay a rebuild if at all possible, which is why roster players sit at the front of that list instead of prospects. Skinner has played at least 50 games in four straight seasons, so the goalie coming back does not have to be a starter. Thirty to 35 starts is enough.

Kevin Cheveldayoff also named a second-line center as his biggest need before the draft, then took Viggo Bjorck and signaled that the 18-year-old will get a look. That gives the Jets room to take a winger back instead.

Chris Johnston reported Thursday that Hellebuyck will waive his no-movement clause for a variety of teams, which is the whole reason this list runs eight deep. Nobody has put a compelling offer in front of Winnipeg yet:

Here are the eight teams Granger listed:

• Buffalo Sabres: the frontrunner, with $6.9 million in space and forwards to spare
• Vegas Golden Knights: best structure in hockey, only $1.9 million in room
• Carolina Hurricanes: the champs, but they have never paid for a goalie
• Utah Mammoth: the assets are there, the division is the problem
• New Jersey Devils: cheapest tandem in the league after the Jacob Markstrom trade
• San Jose Sharks: timelines do not line up with Yaroslav Askarov
• Columbus Blue Jackets: cap space, prospects, and Zach Werenski in front of him
• Dallas Stars: a Jake Oettinger swap that is going nowhere

Buffalo checks the most boxes. Taking Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen back clears another $4.75 million, and Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod are the kind of top-six names Winnipeg is asking for. We already know how close the two sides got in June.

Granger has been making the case that the Jets are selling something no other team can offer:

Utah is the fun one. Granger called the Mammoth a sneaky contender who could fit the money by sending Karel Vejmelka the other way, giving Winnipeg a Vejmelka and Skinner tandem. The catch is obvious, since the Jets would be handing a Central Division rival the one thing standing between it and real contention.

He said the same thing on the DLLS Stars Podcast earlier this week:

Dallas is the one to forget. A straight Hellebuyck for Jake Oettinger swap would be the dream return for Winnipeg, except Oettinger is a Minnesota kid signed through 2032-33 with a full no-movement clause and no reason to use it.

The Sabres have the cap room and the forwards. Utah has the assets. Camps open in a few weeks and neither one has met Winnipeg’s price.