Connor Hellebuyck

Connor Hellebuyck is an American goaltender whose decade in Winnipeg made him the most decorated netminder of his generation and one of the finest the United States has produced. A three-time Vezina Trophy winner and the 2024-25 Hart Memorial Trophy recipient — the first goaltender voted league MVP since Carey Price in 2014-15 — he backstopped Team USA to Olympic gold in 2026 before a blockbuster offseason trade sent him from the Winnipeg Jets to the New Jersey Devils. This entry reflects his career through November 1, 2026.

Vitals
Born	May 19, 1993 — Commerce Township, Michigan
Position	Goaltender (catches left)
Teams	Winnipeg Jets (2015–2026), New Jersey Devils (2026–present)
Draft	2012, Round 5, No. 130 overall — Winnipeg Jets
Contract	7 years, $59.5M ($8.5M AAV), signed Oct. 9, 2023; carried by New Jersey after the Oct. 23, 2026 trade; UFA in 2031 (status as of Nov. 2, 2026)
Number	37

College and the draft

The long-shot pick. The Jets selected Hellebuyck in the fifth round, 130th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, an unremarkable slot for a player who would become a franchise cornerstone. He developed in NCAA hockey at UMass Lowell, whose athletic department still counts him as its most celebrated alumnus after he swept the Hart and Vezina in 2025.

The leap. He reached the NHL for good in the 2015-16 season, posting a .918 save percentage over 26 games as a rookie before settling in as Winnipeg’s starter.

The Winnipeg Jets era

The workhorse. Hellebuyck spent eleven seasons in Winnipeg and left as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, starts, wins and shutouts. His 2017-18 breakout — 44 wins and a .924 save percentage — carried the Jets to a Western Conference Final and set a single-season wins record for an American-born goaltender, passing Tom Barrasso’s 1992-93 mark.

The volume. Few goaltenders of the era shouldered more. He led the NHL in games and in shots faced across multiple seasons, and reached 300 career wins in January 2025 — the fastest among United States-born goaltenders and among the quickest in league history, per Hockey-Reference.

The Vezina years

First of three. Hellebuyck won his first Vezina Trophy in 2019-20, recognized by the league’s general managers as its best goaltender on the strength of a 31-win campaign.

The repeat. He claimed a second Vezina in 2023-24, pairing it with the William M. Jennings Trophy for the league’s lowest team goals-against, then took a third in 2024-25 — the second year running — ahead of Los Angeles’ Darcy Kuemper and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, as reported by TSN.

The 2025 Hart Trophy

The MVP season. The 2024-25 campaign was the finest of his career and one of the best by any goaltender in the salary-cap era: 47 wins, a 2.00 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and 8 shutouts. The 47 wins stand among the highest single-season totals in NHL history.

Rare company. That body of work lifted the Jets to the first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history and earned Hellebuyck the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP — the first goaltender so honored in a decade, a reflection of how singular his value to Winnipeg had become.

2026 Olympic gold

The Secretary of Defense. With NHL players returning to the Winter Olympics, Hellebuyck was Team USA’s starter at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. The Americans went undefeated and beat Canada 2-1 in overtime for the country’s first men’s hockey gold since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” on a winner from his future New Jersey teammate Jack Hughes.

Tournament best. Hellebuyck stopped 41 shots in the final and finished the tournament as its top goaltender with a 1.18 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage, per ESPN.

The trade to New Jersey

The rupture. The 2025-26 season soured the relationship. Hellebuyck went public with a trade request in August 2026, and the standoff hardened into a training-camp holdout and a club suspension, a saga chronicled by TSN as a sour end to an illustrious tenure.

The deal. On October 23, 2026, the Jets traded Hellebuyck to the Devils for Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, goaltender Nico Daws and prospect Alexander Command, plus draft picks, New Jersey announced. The Devils absorbed the remaining years of his contract, which runs through the 2030-31 season.

By the numbers

Season	Team	GP	W	L	GAA	SV%	SO
2015-16	WPG	26	13	11	2.34	.918	2
2016-17	WPG	56	26	19	2.89	.907	4
2017-18	WPG	67	44	11	2.36	.924	6
2018-19	WPG	63	34	23	2.90	.913	2
2019-20	WPG	58	31	21	2.57	.922	6
2020-21	WPG	45	24	17	2.58	.916	4
2021-22	WPG	66	29	27	2.97	.910	4
2022-23	WPG	64	37	25	2.49	.920	4
2023-24	WPG	60	37	19	2.39	.921	5
2024-25	WPG	63	47	12	2.00	.925	8
2025-26	WPG	57	23	23	2.86	.895	0
2026-27	NJD	2	2	0	1.50	.923	0

Regular-season totals and splits per Hockey-Reference, through November 1, 2026.

Career totals

Ranks

• 1st Wins, Jets/Thrashers franchise history (345)
• 1st Shutouts, Jets/Thrashers franchise history (45)
• 1st Games played, Jets/Thrashers franchise history (625)

Honors

• 2025 Hart Trophy (NHL MVP)
• 2026 Olympic gold (Team USA)
• 3× Vezina Trophy (2020, 2024, 2025)
• 2× William M. Jennings Trophy (2024, 2025)
• 4× NHL All-Star (2018, 2020, 2023, 2024)
• 2025 Presidents' Trophy (Winnipeg Jets)

Per Hockey-Reference and theScore, franchise marks through the end of the 2025-26 season.

The arguments

Did he sour his legacy on the way out? Hellebuyck leaves Winnipeg as the greatest goaltender in franchise history, yet his exit was acrimonious. TSN framed the trade request, holdout and suspension as a sour end to a defining tenure; his camp has maintained that a move was the best path forward for him and his family, and that no amount of franchise history obligated him to stay.

The playoff question. Critics note that his regular-season dominance has not translated to the postseason: his career playoff line sits at 24-34 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage over 58 games, per Hockey-Reference. Defenders argue he has repeatedly carried thin Jets rosters into the postseason and been let down in front of the net rather than behind it.

Should a goaltender win MVP? His 2025 Hart Trophy reopened a perennial debate. Skeptics hold that goaltender value is distorted by the team defense in front of him, which is why the award so rarely goes to the position. Supporters counter that his league-leading workload and the Jets’ first Presidents’ Trophy, as detailed by CBS Sports, made him demonstrably the most valuable player to his team.

Why it matters

Connor Hellebuyck’s résumé — three Vezinas, a Hart Trophy, Olympic gold and a franchise’s every goaltending record — already places him among the defining American netminders in the sport’s history, and his move to New Jersey in October 2026 pairs a peak-years star with a contender built around Jack Hughes, making the next chapter of his career one of the league’s most consequential storylines.