Connor Hellebuyck is set to start in goal for the New Jersey Devils against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night, the Devils announced just about two hours before puck drop at T-Mobile Arena.
The Devils surrendered two forwards, a goalie and the rights to 2026 first-round pick Alexander Command to obtain Hellebuyck and end his months-long standoff with the Winnipeg Jets. Friday offers another look at whether the price bought New Jersey a contender.
Game time in Las Vegas is set for 3 p.m. PT, 6 p.m. ET. The Devils own an 8-5-0 record with 16 points, putting them third in the Metropolitan Division. Vegas sits second in the Pacific Division at 9-4-1 with 19 points.
Connor Hellebuyck’s Trade Saga and Devils Debut
Hellebuyck went 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 57 games in 2025-26 as the Winnipeg Jets missed the playoffs, one year after he won the Hart and Vezina trophies.
“Winning a Stanley Cup … that’s all I have left,” Hellebuyck said, according to USA Today.
He questioned whether Winnipeg could attract the talent needed to contend.
The trade request went public Aug. 27 through agent Ray Petkau.
“Several months ago, I privately requested a trade … My position has not changed. I believe moving on is the best path forward for me and my family,” Hellebuyck said through Petkau, according to The Athletic.
Hellebuyck skipped training camp, and the Jets suspended him around Sept. 16. The suspension was set to end Oct. 23, the day the trade was finalized after earlier near-deals, including some around the draft, fell through.
Under the terms, Winnipeg received Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to Command, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick. Hellebuyck, signed through 2030-31 at $8.5 million per season, held full no-movement protection.
He made his debut Oct. 27 against the Dallas Stars and stopped 17 of 18 shots in a 5-1 win. It was his first NHL game since April 13.
“Exceptional,” coach Sheldon Keefe said, according to NHL.com. Keefe added that Hellebuyck looked as though he had been in the locker room for years.
He sat the next night, a 5-2 loss to Colorado in which Jake Allen made 40 saves on 45 shots. Hellebuyck now stands 1-0-0 with a .944 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average.
Does Connor Hellebuyck Turn Devils Into a Contender
Goaltending was New Jersey’s clearest early weakness. Before the trade, Devils goalies posted a .876 save percentage, tied for 23rd in the NHL.
Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner, and in 2024-25 he took the Hart Trophy with 47 wins, a 2.00 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and eight shutouts. He became the first American-born goalie to win the Hart.
The trade was framed as a contender’s move that pairs an elite netminder with a group built around Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes and Nico Hischier. The sample is one game, Hellebuyck is 33, his last regular season was a down year, and he has never reached a Stanley Cup Final.
Connor Charles Hellebuyck was born May 19, 1993, in Commerce, Michigan. The 6-foot-4, 207-pound, left-catching goalie grew up playing roller hockey and attended Walled Lake Northern High School. He spent one season with the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes before the Jets chose him 130th overall in the 2012 draft.
At UMass Lowell, he won the inaugural Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in college hockey in 2014, posting a .946 save percentage, 1.60 goals-against average and 12 shutouts in 54 games. After a stint with the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, he debuted in the NHL in 2015-16.
He left Winnipeg with more than 625 games, roughly 345 wins, a 2.58 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and 45 shutouts. Hellebuyck won 44 games in 2017-18 as the Jets reached the Western Conference Final, then took Vezinas in 2019-20, 2023-24 and 2024-25. He owns two Jennings Trophies and multiple All-Star selections, and he won Olympic gold with Team USA in 2026.
Devils Announce Connor Hellebuyck Decision Before Vegas Golden Knights Game