Connor Hellebuyck's future with the Winnipeg Jets turned into a real storyline late Wednesday night.
Hockey insider Greg Wyshynski posted on X that he really, really hopes Kevin Cheveldayoff clarifies whether a gentleman's agreement ever existed.
The deal, as described, would let Hellebuyck leave if the Jets weren't competitive. Wyshynski called it a rumor that's been making the rounds.
Hellebuyck is also listed day-to-day. The team's own notes flag a suspension that leaves him questionable for the start of the season. Recall he didn't show up to training camp.
He carries an $8,500,000 cap hit in Winnipeg, still the single biggest bet on the roster and the anchor of everything Cheveldayoff has built in net.
Hellebuyck posted an .895 save percentage last season across 57 appearances, exactly the kind of number that makes a gentleman's agreement complicated to walk back.
Last season the Jets finished 35-35-12, a -29 goal differential that left them ranked 26th overall and seventh in their own division.
Winnipeg's numbers make the rumor easy to believe
They closed on a four-game losing streak and went 5-5-0 over their final ten games. Hardly the resume of a team locking down its franchise goalie. Does that sound competitive to you?
Behind Hellebuyck, Stuart Skinner is already under contract at $2,600,000, posting a .888 save percentage across 50 appearances last season.
Thomas Milic played just three games on an $841,667 deal. Not much of a safety net if a franchise goalie really wants out.
A gentleman's agreement with nothing in writing works a lot like a handshake deal on a used car. Everyone remembers a different price once the wheels fall off.
Cheveldayoff has run this franchise since 2011 and has said nothing publicly since the report started spreading. Staying quiet this long is a bad look for a GM with his track record.
Nothing about this gets resolved with a press release. Scott Arniel still has to coach this group, and Hellebuyck still has to strap on the pads, whatever gets said today.
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Should Kevin Cheveldayoff honor a gentleman's agreement and trade Connor Hellebuyck?
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