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Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who has won an Olympic gold medal along with three Vezina trophies as the NHL’s top netminder, has publicly requested a trade.
Hockey journalists and fans have been speculating about the star’s future for months. He confirmed in a statement distributed by his agent Thursday afternoon that he privately requested a trade from the Jets several months ago.
Hellebuyck said he has “tried to handle the situation quietly and respectfully while giving the organization time to explore its options.”
“With training camp approaching, I felt it was important to publicly confirm my request,” his statement said, adding he believes “moving on is the best path forward” for him and his family.
“I appreciate everything Winnipeg Jets fans have meant to me throughout my career and hope a resolution can be reached soon.”
Hellebuyck, 33, is from Michigan. In a rare feat, he was named both the league’s most valuable player and top goalie after the 2024-25 NHL season, when the Jets finished with the league’s best record for the first time in franchise history.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said in a statement later Thursday afternoon he had no update on his star goalie’s future with the team.
Hellebuyck “has been open with us about his desire for a change,” said Cheveldayoff, calling the goalie “an important part of the Winnipeg Jets organization for many years.”
“We have tremendous respect for what he has accomplished here,” and the team “will continue to work through the situation in a thoughtful manner,” he said.
Hellebuyck said in his statement that he’ll never forget when the Jets drafted him in the fifth round (130th overall) of the NHL draft in June 2012.
“I gave everything I had from that moment to prove that the Jets made the right decision,” his statement reads in part.
U.S. President Donald Trump gave Hellebuyck — who made 41 saves on 42 shots for the United States in the Olympic gold-medal game against Canada at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games earlier this year — the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. The medal is the highest civilian honour for United States citizens.
Hellebuyck has been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy five times.
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