- Josh Morrissey addressed Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request for the first time since it went public
- Darren Dreger says the offers Winnipeg has fielded for the Vezina winner have been terrible
- Read below for Morrissey’s full comments and the video from the Jets golf tournament
Josh Morrissey found out his closest friend on the team wanted out the same way everyone else did.
Winnipeg’s top defenseman was asked Monday at the Jets golf tournament about Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request, and he did not pretend it landed softly.
“It is what it is. It sucks when, first and foremost, a guy that I’ve played my whole career with and consider my friend, feels the need to make a move … on that side of it, it sucks.”
Catch the full video of Morrissey’s media session from the golf course:
Hellebuyck went public on Aug. 27 with a statement saying he had privately asked for a trade several months earlier. Morrissey said he learned about it when the rest of the hockey world did.
They came up together. Both debuted with Winnipeg in 2015-16 and have spent all 11 of their NHL seasons in the same room.
Guys ask for trades, Morrissey said. That part he gets, as he told reporters at the course.
“But there is definitely that sort of personal relationship disappointment there.”
His own future came up next. Morrissey has two years left on the eight-year, $50 million deal he signed in September 2019, and he is eligible to sign a new one on July 1. He did not leave any wiggle room on where he wants to be.
“At the end of the day I love being here, I love being a Jet. That’s how I’ve always felt. And so that doesn’t change because of somebody else’s decision.”
The trade market is another story. TSN’s Darren Dreger said on TSN 1050 Monday that the offers Winnipeg has fielded since the request went public have been terrible, with teams treating a three-time Vezina winner like a bargain bin pickup. Dreger doubts Hellebuyck reports to camp at all.
Per Dreger, Hellebuyck has widened the list of teams he would accept a deal to, but he is not willing to waive his no-trade protection for a move that keeps him in Canada. That knocks out a chunk of the teams with the assets to pay.
Last season was the worst of the 33-year-old’s career. He went 23-23-11 with a .895 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average in 57 games, the first time he has finished below .900. He still won gold with the United States at the Olympics in February.
Jets captain Adam Lowry called the trade chatter not worth the team’s time last week. Morrissey went a step further when he was asked whether Winnipeg is a worse team without him.
“Nobody knows if he’s going to be here or not or what a trade would look like so I can’t say it makes us worse or whatever. That’s speculation. Obviously, we hope he’s back at some point and playing for us for a long time.”
Camp opens this week in Winnipeg, and nobody in that room knows whether Hellebuyck walks through the door.
