Hellebuyck suspension ends Friday, Jets still seek a trade

WINNIPEG: Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s team-imposed suspension is set to end Friday, but the three-time Vezina Trophy winner is not expected to be back in the lineup soon, with a trade still unresolved.

TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger reported Thursday that the Jets and Hellebuyck could agree to delay the goaltender’s physical until after Sunday’s Heritage Classic. Hellebuyck needs to pass a physical to be restored to the active roster.

“Hellebuyck, his people, and the Jets want the game to focus on the spectacle that is the Heritage Classic because there is an element of the growth of the game,” Dreger said on TSN’s Insider Trading.

Sportsnet reported, citing multiple sources, that Friday, Oct. 23, is the end date of the suspension. Hellebuyck told the Jets before their first game of the season on Oct. 2 that he intended to end his absence and report to the team. Because he did not have permission to skip training camp, the Jets were able to suspend him under Article 15.13 of the collective bargaining agreement, which allows a disciplinary suspension of “reasonable length.”

Hellebuyck told Jets management at the end of the 2025-26 season that he was unhappy with the direction of the team, TSN reported, and made a public request for a trade a few months later. Since then, both sides have been at a standstill, with the goaltender refusing to report until he told the team he would come back.

Dreger said general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has continued to work to trade Hellebuyck and that the effort will go on after the weekend. “These trade discussions have gone back several months, a long period of time, and they’ve yet to find a deal,” Dreger said. He added that he does not think anyone expects Hellebuyck to show up in Winnipeg.

One possibility, Sportsnet reported, is that the Jets pay Hellebuyck to stay at home once the suspension ends if no trade is made. The report did not name a destination, and neither Cheveldayoff nor Hellebuyck’s agent, Ray Petkau, would comment to Sportsnet.

The Jets have managed without their starter, playing to a 4-3-2 record so far this season. Head coach Scott Arniel said Monday that the situation remains uncertain for the team.

“It’s all unknown right now for all of us,” Arniel said after practice. “Chevy’s handling that, he’s dealing with that stuff, until (Hellebuyck) shows up here, or whatever may happen, or a trade happens, or whatever that is, it’s hard to talk about.”

Hellebuyck, who has a full no-movement clause, controls where he can be traded, which has complicated the search for a deal. Hockey trade-news site Pro Hockey Rumors reported Thursday that trade talks are escalating, though no deal has been announced.

The Jets’ last update on the situation is covered in our earlier report, Hellebuyck still suspended as Jets await trade offer. This story will be updated if the physical is completed or a trade is made.

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Sources: TSN, Sportsnet, Pro Hockey Rumors. Photo: file photo of Connor Hellebuyck in a 2024 game against the Seattle Kraken, not from the events described. Jenn G, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.