Connor Hellebuyck is a huge fan of True hockey gear — his glove, blocker and pads all bearing the company logo.
Might they be able to whip up a cape for him as well?
The Winnipeg Jets will need Hellebuyck in full superhero form, swooping in to help save a season that has gone off the rails in the three weeks since he went under the knife for arthroscopic knee surgery.
His return — which could come as early as Saturday night against the Washington Capitals — is desperately needed for a team that has won just two of 11 games without him.
“Getting close,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said following Friday’s practice, in which Hellebuyck handled a heavy workload while the other two masked men — Eric Comrie and Dom DiVincentiis — shared reps at the other end of the rink.
Matt Krohn / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck may return as soon as Saturday against the Washington Capitals.
Provided the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner wakes up feeling right, don’t be surprised if he gets the call against Alex Ovechkin and company, who arrive at Canada Life Centre riding a 7-0-2 heater. That would amount to an early Christmas present for the Jets, given the original timeline of four-to-six weeks on the shelf.
But as welcome as that development is — Arniel compared it to Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon returning for their teams — it’s important to remember Hellebuyck is still mortal. Expecting one player, even one this good, to magically erase all of Winnipeg’s problems would be foolish.
“We can’t give up the Grade A (chances) that we’ve been giving up, no matter which goalie is in there,” said Arniel.
“We can’t give up the Grade A (chances) that we’ve been giving up, no matter which goalie is in there.”
“(Prior to his injury) we started off slow, especially defending. We were winning, but we were also giving up a lot. Before he had the surgery we were starting to turn the corner on how we were playing without it. But since then it’s the inconsistency, whether it was the offensive side or the defensive side, it’s just been very irregular of us doing it on a nightly basis.”
The latest example came Thursday in an ugly 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins. Winnipeg is now 5-12-1 over its last 18 games, representing a stunning drop for a group that won the Presidents’ Trophy a year ago and opened this season 9-3-0
“Five-on-five. Special teams. Individual games. Moments in games. (Handling) momentum,” veteran defenceman Josh Morrissey said Friday when asked to identify areas in need of improvement.
Notably, he didn’t mention goaltending — nobody is going to throw the well-liked Comrie under the bus — but that area has sagged as well. The 14-15-1 Jets now find themselves in a sizable hole, bordering on crater, with 52 games left to climb out of it. Only Vancouver, Calgary and Nashville have fewer points in the NHL standings.
“I don’t think you can start looking at the big picture. You’re just going to get swallowed up by that,” said Morrissey.
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Boston’s Elias Lindholm celebrates a second-period goal on Eric Comrie in the Bruins’ 6-3 thumping of the Jets, Thursday.
“Bottom line, it’s easy to get caught up in stretches and what’s ahead and the big picture. It’s really just about focusing on what you can do each day, the preparation as individuals and as a team. If you start looking too far in the rearview mirror or too far in front, things are just going to compound.”
The Free Press asked Arniel whether other help could be on the way in addition to Hellebuyck. If not via trade, then perhaps from a Manitoba Moose team that has stabilized after a rough start.
Among the candidates: draft picks David Gustafsson, Brayden Yager, Danny Zhilkin and the trio of Brad Lambert, Parker Ford and Nikita Chibrikov who all got brief auditions with the Jets earlier this year. Established veterans such as Walker Duehr, Samuel Fagemo, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Phil Di Giuseppe are all waiting for an opportunity as well.
“I don’t tell the manager anything. We discuss things.”
Surely someone could provide a spark for a group that looks lifeless?
“It’s extremely tough now that we’re healthy. It’s hard. When it’s a 23-man roster, it’s not like you can pull a piece out and make a move,” Arniel replied.
That may be true, but what about creating room by placing someone on waivers? The Jets have plenty of passengers these days, with pending unrestricted free agent Gustav Nyquist (0 goals, 6 assists in 21 games at US$3.25 million) at the front of the line. He returned Thursday after four games as a healthy scratch, then took a costly first-period penalty that led to the tying goal.
Another pending UFA forward, Tanner Pearson, was scratched against Boston after just five points in 27 games. And Colin Miller, also a pending UFA, can’t crack the top six on defence, and that group is about to get more crowded with Haydn Fleury ready to return from a concussion.
None of those players were drafted or developed by the Jets, meaning the investment is minimal. If the goal truly is to win now, isn’t it time to try shaking something loose? If another team claims the contract, so be it. If not, the player goes to the AHL and a roster spot is freed.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel: “I’ve got to coach what’s here, what’s in front of me.”
“We certainly talk about it and we’re starting to have more conversations,” Arniel said of potential internal moves. “For me, I’ve got to coach what’s here, what’s in front of me. But we do communicate about how we want to move forward.”
Some may view that as a subtle shot across the bow, perhaps a hint his hands are tied by the roster. Arniel was asked what he might be telling general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff what he needs right now.
“I don’t tell the manager anything. We discuss things,” he said.
“It’s very hard to make moves. It really is. At the end of the day, each team would love to at different times make changes, whether you’re running at the top and you want to add a piece. But, right now, it’s tough to do anything and, at the end of the day, my job is to coach the guys I have in front of me right now.”
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On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
One of Winnipeg’s biggest strengths last season was the bond that formed within the group, which won a franchise-record 56 games. Is all this losing now testing that unity, given much of the same core remains?
So far, so good, said Arniel.
“I think that goes to our leadership group keeping those guys together. Recognizing that we’re not going to win with five or six,” he said.
“We’re going to have to win with 20 guys, 23 guys. It’s going to take us all to get ourselves back into this race. I think that it’s been a good group. The last few years, it’s always been a good group. Hopefully they’re leaning on each other through these tough times as well.”
Added Morrissey, one of the team’s alternate captains and one of the few players — along with the top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi — not mired in a slump: “I think everyone in the room feels the responsibility and the onus on themselves to try and be part of the solution.”
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Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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