The Buffalo Sabres made a hard push for Connor Hellebuyck around the time of the 2026 NHL Draft.
That’s nothing new. In fact, the prevailing thought here at Heavy was that the trade could have happened on the night before the first round.
But it didn’t, even though most pundits thought the deal was imminent, and now it’s clear why.
On the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, insider Elliotte Friedman revealed why the deal between the Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets involving Connor Hellebuyck broke down. Specifically, the main reason, among others, involved swapping the fourth and eighth-overall picks.
“The biggest issue there was the Jets wanted the fourth pick, and they wanted to keep the eighth. Buffalo, if they were going to trade the fourth, they wanted the eighth.”
Now, the issue wasn’t the pick itself. It was the player they ultimately selected with the eighth pick: Viggo Bjorck.
The Jets didn’t want to get the fourth and give up the eighth since they felt that Bjorck would have been a reach at No. 4. The Sabres balked, and the trade didn’t happen.
It’s funny because the Sabres ended up keeping that pick and caused a stir by selecting Daxon Rudolph with it.
But there was one other factor potentially holding up the deal between the Sabres and Jets.
Jets Would Have Gotten Luukkonen in Deal for Connor Hellebuyck
Friedman pointed out that one of the pieces that would have gone back to Winnipeg in the Connor Hellebuyck deal would have been Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
However, since the deal didn’t go through at the draft, it allowed Luukkonen to amend his no-trade clause to include Winnipeg.
“Now, I believe that Luukkonen has Winnipeg on his no-trade. The Jets want a goalie. So, that complicates things.”
The Sabres netminder is entering the third year of a five-year deal and has a five-team no-trade list precisely starting this season. That’s why, if the Sabres really wanted to make a deal with the Jets, the goalie they would offer just wouldn’t register with Winnipeg.
That’s a highly interesting situation as the Sabres were once viewed as the frontrunners for Connor Hellebuyck. But that ship has likely sailed, at least for now.
Sabres Could Just Wait Out the Situation
As it stands, the Sabres would certainly still want to land Hellebuyck. Their position now, however, could be one of just waiting out the situation.
Following Winnipeg’s suspension of Hellebuyck, anyone who might have interest in the three-time Vezina winner might just be sitting by, waiting to see when the price drops.
And when it does, the calculus could change significantly.
Buffalo, for one, might be able to land Connor Hellebuyck for a much lower price than originally intended. Of course, that premise depends on the Jets getting desperate over the situation. By the looks of things, it doesn’t appear that Winnipeg will be losing any sleep over Hellebuyck holding out.
That’s why Sabres fans may have to be extremely patient in waiting for Connor Hellebuyck to join the team, if ever such a trade should happen.
Sabres Connor Hellebuyck Offer Nixed for One Reason