On Thursday, star goalie Connor Hellebuyck officially confirmed he had requested a trade from the Winnipeg Jets, again stirring up speculation the Florida Panthers could be a potential landing spot.
Thing is, if the Panthers were going to trade for Hellebuyck, they would have done so already.
Hellebuyck’s statement that he put out Thursday only made public a trade request which was made following the end of last season.
Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has been listening to trade offers for the 2026 Olympic Gold winning goalie throughout this offseason including a potential deal to Buffalo that may be renewed before the season opens.
One has to believe the Panthers looked into this months ago.
And, the Panthers have moved on.
Before the June draft and the opening of free agency on July 1, the Panthers were certainly looking at a new goalie situation for 2026-27 what with Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov both being free agents.
Florida ended up trading with Vegas for backup Akira Schmid before securing Jacob Markstrom in a second deal with New Jersey.
Both goalies have two years remaining under contract.
The Panthers’ goalie situation is set.
But, lets say the Panthers did have interest in trading for Hellebuyck.
Why wouldn’t they?
Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and helped Matthew and Brady Tkachuk win gold in Milan with Team USA.
What, exactly, does Bill Zito have to trade?
Not much that he would want to part with, that’s for sure.
Hellebuyck has a cap hit of $8.5 million which, on its own, is a really good deal for any team which gets him.
The Panthers are right up against the salary cap — and have committed $8 million (Markstrom is making $6 of that) to their two goalies.
Sure, the Panthers could theoretically trade Markstrom to Winnipeg (assuming the Jets would agree to this speculative deal) only Markstrom has a 20-team no-trade list which kicked in July 1.
It is likely that Winnipeg is on that no-trade list.
Anyway, do not expect Hellebuyck to be playing for the Panthers this season although in two years? Perhaps.
The Hellebuyck news that came out Thursday may have been a nudge to Cheveldayoff and the Jets’ front office after the trade talks cooled over the summer.
But Cheveldayoff and the Jets really do not have to do anything.
Hellebuyck signed a seven-year contract extension in 2023 which has five years remaining on it.
Unlike other star players who have made trade requests and were relatively quickly moved, Hellebuyck does not have a contractual hammer here.
Brady Tkachuk, for instance, has two years left on his contract and told Ottawa not to expect him to sign a long-term deal with the team at the end of it. The Senators could have held on to Tkachuk, but decided to move him now while they could maximize the return.
Tkachuk, for the Senators, would have been a rental.
With five years left, the Jets can hold out to make the best deal possible for a goalie who could potentially transform a franchise.
The Jets are going to trade Hellebuyck eventually.
And, they should get a haul for him.
It just was not going to come from the Panthers — either in June or next week.
ON DECK: FLORIDA PANTHERSÂ OFFSEASON