The Buffalo Sabres pursued Connor Hellebuyck for months.
In the end, they didn’t complete a trade for the Winnipeg Jets‘ superstar goalie. Instead, the New Jersey Devils pulled off the blockbuster deal on Friday.
The question then becomes: What stopped the Sabres? Why didn’t they do it?
The Jets and Sabres negotiated for months, at least based on all the reports, which makes it seem like Winnipeg kept coming back to one guy, and that Buffalo kept saying no to that name. Otherwise, a deal would’ve gotten done by now.
There’s no way to know for sure, but the Devils’ return package provides a hint.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan shared the return on X on Friday:
Connor Hellebuyck has been traded to New Jersey Devils. The deal includes Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Nick Bjugstad and Alexander Command, who NJ took No. 12 overall at the 2026 Draft. Plus two draft picks.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) October 23, 2026
Each aspect of that deal has a different layer to it, but one stood out: Dawson Mercer, a young and talented winger.
Sabres Player Not Traded for Hellebuyck
The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn posted on X on Friday to suggest that the Sabres had one guy who overlapped a lot with Mercer: Jack Quinn.
Here’s what Fairburn had to say:
Winnipeg getting a scoring winger in Dawson Mercer leads me to believe the Sabres would have needed to include Jack Quinn in the deal to get Hellebuyck on top of some other good assets. That wouldn’t have been easy to do given Buffalo’s lack of scoring wingers right now.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) October 23, 2026
To be clear, Fairburn isn’t saying he knows that for sure. But he’s the most plugged-in beat reporter for the Sabres, so if anyone is going to have a good read on this, it’s Fairburn.
It certainly would be fascinating if the key hold-up to a Sabres potential trade for Hellebuyck was Quinn.
Why Sabres Would Hold Jack Quinn
The reality is that the Jets wouldn’t have wanted just Quinn. That’d be a win for Buffalo.
Winnipeg likely wanted three or four players — including a potential recent first-round pick like Alexander Command (No. 12 pick in 2026 NHL Draft), who they got from the Devils.
If the Sabres had to trade four players and two draft picks, it’s fair to think that felt like a lot.
Maybe Hellebuyck would still have been worth it, but that’s an estimation Buffalo evidently decided wasn’t the case.
And whether Quinn was really the sticking point or not, it’d make Buffalo fans feel a lot better if Quinn got hot in a hurry and helped the Sabres get some wins to forget about the goalie they didn’t get.
This Player Stopped Sabres Trade for Connor Hellebuyck