- Kevin Cheveldayoff says “no doors are closed” on a Connor Hellebuyck return to Winnipeg
- The Jets GM confirmed the trade request came during exit meetings after last season
- Read below for everything Cheveldayoff said on day one of Jets training camp
Kevin Cheveldayoff is not slamming the door on Connor Hellebuyck.
Winnipeg’s general manager met the media Thursday morning at Hockey For All Centre, one day after the Jets suspended Hellebuyck for failing to report to training camp. Cheveldayoff was asked whether the three-time Vezina Trophy winner could still end up back in the Winnipeg crease.
“No doors are closed. He’s under contract for five more years. At the end of the day, that will be his choice.”
He also refused to put a clock on a trade.
“This isn’t necessarily a time thing for me,” Cheveldayoff said. “For me, I just want to get this right.”
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Cheveldayoff also filled in a piece of the timeline nobody had pinned down. The request came during exit meetings after the 2025-26 season, months before Hellebuyck made it public through agent Ray Petkau on Aug. 27.
Suspending him was procedural, the GM said. Winnipeg will not pay Hellebuyck any of the $8.5 million he is owed this season, and the money will not count against the cap once the regular season opens.
One reporter asked where the relationship between the club and its franchise goaltender sits after all of this.
“It can’t get emotional. It can’t get personal,” Cheveldayoff said. “Connor Hellebuyck is part of our family until he isn’t part of our family. You don’t just say that. You have to believe it.”
That’s a long way from October 2023, when Hellebuyck sat at the same podium after signing on for seven more years at $8.5 million a season.
“This organization believes in me the way I believe in myself,” he said then. “Now I’m ready to be a Jet for life and bring a Cup to this city, because I really believe we can get it done here.”
Take a look back at that one:
Hellebuyck went 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 57 games last season. Winnipeg finished seventh in the Central Division and missed the playoffs at 35-35-12.
The year before that, he won the Hart Trophy and his third Vezina behind a Presidents’ Trophy team. Five years and $42.5 million are still on the deal.
Trade talks have been going for a long time, Cheveldayoff said. He just is not going to rush one through to get camp started clean.
