- Michael Wilbon tore into Connor Hellebuyck on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption over his trade request
- Hellebuyck is two years into a seven-year, $59.5 million deal with five seasons still to run
- Read below for Wilbon’s full rant and Frank Isola’s small-market counterpoint
Michael Wilbon has heard enough about Connor Hellebuyck wanting out of Winnipeg.
The ESPN host was asked on Pardon the Interruption whether the Jets owe their goaltender anything after he asked out. Wilbon answered by walking through the phone call he would make to the player and his agent if the team were his.
“We signed you to this deal. You want a trade? Go to hell.”
Watch the whole segment:
Wilbon kept going from there. He landed hardest on the idea that Winnipeg gave Hellebuyck exactly what he asked for and got a trade request back.
“They gave you the security you wanted, the money you wanted. They rewarded you. You signed the deal.”
He finished by saying he would ship Hellebuyck to whatever outpost he could find. That last line about the deal is the one we put on a graphic, because it is the cleanest version of the argument anyone has made against the request:
Frank Isola pushed back a little, though not on the substance. His point was about geography and how much noise a trade request generates depending on where a player plays.
“This is a case of him being lucky that he plays in a small market, or else he’d be getting destroyed.”
The math Wilbon is pointing at is real. Hellebuyck signed a seven-year, $59.5 million extension in October 2023 that kicked in for 2024-25, and he has played two seasons of it. Five are left, starting with this one.
Winnipeg got plenty for the money. Hellebuyck won the Hart and the Vezina in 2024-25, the year the Jets finished with the best regular-season record in franchise history. Kevin Cheveldayoff has said only that he has no update, and Hellebuyck has signaled he will waive his no-movement clause for a wide range of destinations.
The request went public on Aug. 27 through his agent, with Hellebuyck saying moving on is the best path forward for him and his family. Winnipeg has not moved him, and the list of teams that actually fit a Hellebuyck trade is shorter than the rumor mill wants it to be.
Camp opens in about three weeks with a three-time Vezina winner still on the Winnipeg roster.
