- Frank Seravalli reports the Hurricanes made a pitch this week for Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck
- Carolina’s offer is believed to include a first-round pick and RFA defenseman Alexander Nikishin
- Read below for why this one is far from done and who else is circling
The Stanley Cup champions are not done shopping.
Carolina made a pitch this week for Connor Hellebuyck, Frank Seravalli reported. The offer is believed to include a first-round pick and pending RFA defenseman Alexander Nikishin.
Seravalli laid it out:
That is a big swing for a club that won it all on a cheap goalie tandem. Frederik Andersen is a pending free agent, and Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov are signed for next season at a combined $3.9 million.
The Hurricanes have the assets, too. They hold four first-round picks over the next three drafts, and Nikishin is already swirling in trade talks on his own. The 24-year-old made the All-Rookie team and is days from restricted free agency without arbitration rights.
Hellebuyck is the prize. He owns three Vezina Trophies, an Olympic gold medal, and five years left at an $8.5 million cap hit, with a no-movement clause that lets him pick his next home.
There is a knock, though. Hellebuyck just posted the worst numbers of his career, an .895 save percentage well below his .918 career mark, and he played through a knee issue that needed arthroscopic surgery in November. A buyer is betting the down year was the structure in front of him, not the goalie.
Goalies move for real money now. Ottawa gave up a first and two players for Linus Ullmark last summer, and New Jersey sent a first to Calgary for Jacob Markstrom. Florida wants Hellebuyck next to the Tkachuks but lacks the assets Carolina has, while Detroit, Buffalo, Utah and San Jose are all circling.
Here is what makes Carolina interesting. They won a Cup on cheap goaltending, so this reads less like a team that needs Hellebuyck and more like one making sure Florida does not get him.
Winnipeg has not even decided it is selling. The Jets are listening, but the price has to climb, and Hellebuyck has not formally asked out.
All of this lands a week after a parade in Raleigh. Here are the champs:
Hellebuyck is open to a change, and Carolina just put the first real offer on the table. Hellebuyck picks the landing spot, Winnipeg sets the price, and the chase for the best goalie on the market is officially on.
