Sabres Should Circle Back On Hellebuyck 

At the time of last month’s NHL entry draft, the Buffalo Sabres were looking at a specific move to upgrade the club’s goaltending. 

Multiple NHL insiders, including Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast, had linked the Sabres to talks with Winnipeg, involving Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck. 

The 33-year-old Hellebuyck was the primary reason why Team USA was able to secure the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina in February. In addition to his international exploits, the native of Commerce, Michigan won the NHL Most Valuable Player award in 2024-25 and is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s top goaltender. 

Hellebuyck has voiced his disappointment with the performance of the Jets and his desire to move on and has agreed to waive his full no-movement clause to go to Buffalo if a trade could be agreed upon. 

Winnipeg’s asking price when discussions began was simply too high for Buffalo to close the deal. 

Jets’ general Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff reportedly was asking for a compensation package that included the fourth overall selection in the entry draft, as well as Buffalo’s fan-favorite forward Zach Benson. 

The Sabres will be looking to young forwards Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund to fill the gap of goal production lost with the departure of top winger Alex Tuch. 

Given the prospect of a dip in goal scoring this fall, the Sabres would be well served by revisiting a move for Hellebuyck and looking to keep more pucks out of their net at critical times. Last season’s goaltending trio of Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis all provided strong performances in the regular season, but all three dealt with injury issues and raised concerns over durability, particularly in the postseason. 

Although the Sabres have three capable netminders, they lack a true #1, night-in, night-out starter. 

Goaltenders of Hellebuyck’s caliber don’t become available very often. 

The addition of a top netminder could well result in more points in Buffalo’s win column. Such an upgrade in the crease could be the difference in a tightly contested playoff race in the Atlantic Division. 

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