Connor Hellebuyck is losing money by the second, and Winnipeg Jets fans are keeping score.
A fan-made website, hellebucks.com, tracks what the goalie has given up since he demanded a trade and failed to report to training camp. Hellebuyck has been suspended four games, costing him 5.3% of his $7.5-million salary. As of Friday morning, the total was more than $400,000, and counting.
Hellebucks.Com Is Trying to Prove a Point
The fan site is clearly unhappy with Hellebuyck’s decision to sit out and not join his team this season. On behalf of all fans who feel the same, they’ve chosen to pour salt in the wound.
They write:
“The Winnipeg Jets saw something special in Connor Hellebuyck. In 2012, the organization drafted him in the fifth round, 130th overall. Few could have predicted what that would lead to.
More than a decade later, Hellebuyck had earned three Vezinas and a Hart Trophy. He had also won the hearts of Winnipeggers and Jets fans around the world. He was on track to be a local legend.
Then came the heartbreak. The cozying up to a U.S. president who was threatening Canadian sovereignty. The trade request. The failure to report to training camp. The suspension.
The Jets are moving on without him. The season is underway. The team has a new look and a new attitude. Meanwhile, Hellebuyck is in limbo. And that’s costing him, day by day.”
As the ultimate middle finger to the goaltender, the ticker counts up as time passes, showing in real time just how much money the netminder is losing this season. And to give fans who don’t make as much money as Hellebuyck some perspective on what that might equate to, the site also offers up some more practical examples.
378 months of rent on a one-bedroom in Winnipeg, 3,663 lower-bowl tickets to watch the Jets’ other goalies, 1966 Hellebuyck jerseys, or 285 sets of goalie pads. Its tagline stings: “We’d have built you a statue. Instead we built this counter.”
Jets Being Patient, Still No Hellebuyck Trade
Drafted by Winnipeg in the fifth round in 2012, Hellebuyck grew into a Hart Trophy winner and a multiple-time Vezina winner. He is known as one of the NHL’s more elite goaltenders. But he decided this summer, when the Jets were less competitive than he would have liked, that it was time for a change.
He requested a trade in private. When the Jets didn’t move quickly enough for his liking, he took that trade request public. That would have been enough to turn some fans, but when he decided not to show up to camp and started sitting out the season to gain leverage, fans turned.
Meanwhile, the Jets have stood firm, electing not to rush a trade to appease him. Winnipeg is 3-0-1 and leads the Central Division, with Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson helping push the team’s goaltending to 10th in the league at 2.5 goals against per game. It’s given GM Kevin Cheveldayoff the confidence that he can wait things out, costing Hellebuyck more money by the minute. Having Hellebuyck sit, so far, hasn’t cost the team.
The Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and San Jose Sharks are reportedly still interested, but they have needs of their own. One has to wonder if they’re all watching this situation unfold and getting cold feet.
Hellebuyck still has five years left on his contract, and for now he waits, losing money hand over fist.
Jets Fans Tracking Connor Hellebuyck’s Staggering Salary Loss in Real Time