Connor Hellebuyck reaffirmed his trade stance on Friday. The superstar goalie who won the Hart Trophy in the 2024-25 season is going to be somewhere else to begin the season
The question is, does Utah want another goalie? Everyone knows this goalie can instantly make a team much better...
Does Utah actually want to target Hellebuyck
Utah needed a goalie after their only good goalie was Karel Vejmelka. Vejmelka remains the starter, but Utah did address their biggest need - a backup goalie.
Utah traded for former 1st round selection Sebastian Cossa from the Detroit Red Wings. As things stand now, Vejmelka and Cossa would easily be the 1-2 punch in Utah. But is there a chance that the Mammoth want to compete this year and not take a chance?
Cossa isn't a sure thing, and Vejmelka's numbers didn't wow people. So, adding Hellebuyck could make sense, possibly adding a safety blanket and giving Utah a bigger chance of competing right here, right now.
The question is rather simple, though. Does Utah want to force Cossa to wait longer, or do they want to ensure that they will compete in 2026-27? Oh, and technically, Michael Hrabal is a pretty high prospect as well, and not to mention that both Cossa and Hrabal are 6'6".
That's not all in terms of the downsides of the trade for Hellebuyck, though. A perhaps even bigger downside is the fact that the Winnipeg Jets would want a great return. And perhaps even a guy like Hrabal. Hellebuyck proved his capability with Team USA when the US won 2-1 in OT in the Gold Medal game of the Winter Olympics.
So Hellebuyck hasn't lost all of his value despite being 33 and having a down year. Simply put, it will be very interesting to see what Utah does,
It seems like they won't do anything... But sometimes teams can surprise people.
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