Connor Hellebuyck has fallen one spot in the NHL Network’s annual ranking of the league’s top goaltenders.
But by the time the Winnipeg Jets open training camp in less than a month, where he ranks might be considerably less important than where he physically is.
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Whether he will remain the Jets’ No. 1 backstop much longer is the million-dollar question.
NHL Network unveiled its annual list of the league’s top goaltenders this week, with Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy overtaking Hellebuyck for the No. 1 position.
Photo by Charles LeClair/USA Today
Hellebuyck, who topped the list one year ago, fell just one spot to second, ahead of Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin and Jeremy Swayman.
On its own, the change isn’t particularly surprising.
Hellebuyck endured one of the most difficult statistical seasons of his NHL career in 2025-26, going 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and career-worst .895 save percentage.
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Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, captured his second Vezina Trophy after going 39-15-4 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .912 save percentage for Tampa Bay.
But Hellebuyck’s placement at No. 2 is another reminder of the enormous question hanging over Winnipeg with training camp now less than a month away.
The Jets have one of the two best goaltenders in the NHL, according to NHL Network. They just don’t know whether he’ll be there when camp opens.
Hellebuyck’s future has remained uncertain since Winnipeg’s disappointing 2025-26 season came to an end.
The 33-year-old made no secret of his frustration following a year in which the Jets missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, just one season removed from winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
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General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff later acknowledged publicly that the Jets were willing to listen to trade offers for their longtime starter, although he stopped short of saying Hellebuyck had formally requested a trade.
The situation has gone relatively quiet since the NHL Draft and opening of free agency, but that shouldn’t necessarily be mistaken for a resolution.
Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman recently reported that there has been little movement on the Hellebuyck front of late, while maintaining his belief that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner will eventually be traded.
There also remains an expectation around the situation that Hellebuyck may not be present when the Jets gather for training camp next month.
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That would turn what has largely been an offseason storyline into an immediate problem for Winnipeg.
The Jets have already provided themselves with some insurance in goal.
Winnipeg signed Stuart Skinner to a two-year, $7.5-million contract on July 1, giving the club an experienced NHL starter should Hellebuyck ultimately be moved. A move that Skinner surely wouldn’t sign up for if he anticipated serving solely as Hellebuyck’s backup (15-20 games a season maximum) for the next two years.
Oh, and Skinner also shares an agent with Hellebuyck and former Jets backup Eric Comrie. So he clearly has some inside info on the situation.
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Cheveldayoff has maintained that Hellebuyck’s uncertain future was not the reason for Skinner’s addition and, technically, there is nothing forcing Winnipeg into making a deal.
Hellebuyck has five years remaining on the seven-year, $59.5-million contract he signed with the Jets in October 2023.
That contractual control gives Winnipeg considerably more leverage than it had during the last round of Hellebuyck trade speculation three summers ago, when he was approaching unrestricted free agency.
But there is a difference between having contractual control and having certainty.
The Jets are coming off a 35-35-12 season in which they finished seventh in the Central Division. They have made changes around the edges of the roster this summer and have repeatedly maintained that the goal remains to win.
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Doing so becomes considerably more difficult without Hellebuyck.
Even following the worst statistical season of his career, NHL Network still considers him the second-best goaltender in the sport. One year earlier, Hellebuyck captured both the Hart and Vezina trophies after a remarkable 2024-25 campaign.
Across his back-to-back Vezina-winning seasons, Hellebuyck went 84-31-7 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
That is not a player Winnipeg can simply subtract and expect to replace. It also justifies why Cheveldayoff can afford to remain patient.
If the Jets ultimately move their franchise goaltender, the return will need to help reshape a roster that still intends to compete. Winnipeg has long sought additional help among its top-six forwards, and a Hellebuyck trade represents its most significant opportunity to acquire an impact player (preferably a centreman) without entering a full-scale rebuild.
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The difficulty is finding a team with the need, cap flexibility and assets required to make such a massive deal work.
For now, Hellebuyck remains a Winnipeg Jet. On paper, anyway.
NHL Network’s latest ranking confirms that his standing among the game’s elite hasn’t disappeared after one down season.
Whether the No. 2 goaltender in hockey actually takes the ice with the Jets when training camp opens is another matter entirely.
But for those keeping score back home, Hellebuyck has been wearing his Winnipeg Jets branded practice gear while skating during the offseason back home in Michigan. And to no surprise his Lake of the Woods Sports Headquarters outdoors gear.
Does it mean anything substantial? No. But it doesn’t scream, “I’m ditching this place forever,” either.
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