{"id":708875,"date":"2026-11-11T11:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/708875\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:51:12","slug":"connor-hellebuyck-presser-a-black-eye-moment-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/708875\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor Hellebuyck Presser a Black Eye Moment Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/connor-hellebuyck-devils-home-start.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the New Jersey Devils warms up before a game\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The New Jersey Devils announce a new decision involving Connor Hellebuyck ahead of their matchup with the Edmonton Oilers. Here&#8217;s what it means.<\/p>\n<p>Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s presser on Tuesday in his return to Winnipeg turned out to be a black eye moment for the Winnipeg <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-york-jets\/\" title=\"Jets\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590128\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jets<\/a>, even if some in the media aren\u2019t totally buying it.<\/p>\n<p>The much-anticipated <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nhl\/winnipeg-jets\/connor-hellebuyck-trade-timing-was-no-accident-for-jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hellebuyck presser<\/a> promised to be an opportunity in which Jets fans and the local media would get answers on the entire situation. If anything, the New Jersey Devils goalie shed some light on the situation.<\/p>\n<p>And it was those answers that turned into a black eye moment for the organization, whether it actually deserved the scrutiny or not.<\/p>\n<p>During <a href=\"https:\/\/pucksandpitchforks.com\/connor-hellebuyck-isn-t-hiding-from-anyone-despite-sitting-out-in-winnipeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">his press conference<\/a>, Connor Hellebuyck made it clear that his trade request wasn\u2019t about hockey. It was about what his family had to deal with away from the rink.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was some moments and some things that happened to my family that for me crossed the line, and as a husband and a father, I felt made that decision very certain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI needed to be a good husband and good father, and do what\u2019s best for my family and my career.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Connor Hellebuyck explained that some things his family experienced while in Winnipeg \u201ccrossed the line\u201d and made his decision to request a trade \u201cvery certain\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s about as rough as it gets. And make no mistake, it\u2019s a bad look for the Jets organization.<\/p>\n<p>Whether he intended it or not, the statement carries an accusatory tone. It points a finger at the city of Winnipeg itself. A franchise goalie, a former Vezina winner, saying he no longer felt safe is the kind of headline an organization never wants.<\/p>\n<p>So, where does that leave the Jets?<\/p>\n<p>Reporting Suggests the Jets Were in the Dark<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s where it gets complicated. Third-party reporting paints a very different picture of what the Jets actually knew.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Seravalli made it clear in his reporting that the Jets had no knowledge of the situation up to the public trade request this summer. That bit of reporting is confounding and casts Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s admissions into question.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not that Frank needs any confirmation here, but I\u2019ve heard similar from legal sources in the community. <\/p>\n<p>Fair to say the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/NHLJets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#NHLJets<\/a> and WPS, at least privately, have a different take on some of this than the one presented by Connor Hellebuyck. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XIRibw0nis\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/XIRibw0nis<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mikemcintyrewpg\/status\/2120287585939701995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">November 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>All right, so a couple of things here. First, the Jets reportedly acted when they were told about the online threats. Second, the more serious allegations apparently didn\u2019t reach the team until late in the summer, with training camp right around the corner.<\/p>\n<p>The timeline is what makes things interesting. If the situation was so bad, why didn\u2019t Connor Hellebuyck take up the situation with the team or even law enforcement? Perhaps there was an effort to keep everything quiet to respect privacy.<\/p>\n<p>But if that were the case, the reporting would confirm to some extent that the organization knew about the situation when it happened.<\/p>\n<p>And if it did, and didn\u2019t do anything about it, well, that would be a damning situation for the Jets, to say the least.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s Word Against the Organization\u2019s<\/p>\n<p>Based on the reporting, the Jets didn\u2019t have any real knowledge of what Connor Hellebuyck says his family went through. But that doesn\u2019t settle anything.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, it\u2019s essentially Hellebuyck\u2019s word against whatever the Jets might say in reply, if they reply at all. And it\u2019s hard to see a clean way out for the team. Pushing back too hard against a player who says his family was threatened is not exactly a winning approach.<\/p>\n<p>Is the team being painted in an unfair light? Maybe. Is the city of Winnipeg taking more <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/miami-heat\/\" title=\"heat\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590129\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">heat<\/a> than it deserves? Possibly. The vast majority of that fan base had nothing to do with any of this.<\/p>\n<p>But the optics are not good, nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>Perception is a major thing in pro sports, and right now the perception is that a star goalie felt he had to leave. The Jets will have to decide how, or whether, they respond. Until then, the Connor Hellebuyck saga is going to keep following them around.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/nestorquixtanhernandez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nestor Quixtan<\/a> Seasoned NHL and NFL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor&#8217;s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor&#8217;s fondness for baseball, football, and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/nestorquixtanhernandez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Nestor Quixtan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The New Jersey Devils announce a new decision involving Connor Hellebuyck ahead of their matchup with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[5,78,4,77,18,5288],"class_list":["post-708875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg-jets","tag-hockey","tag-jets","tag-nhl","tag-winnipeg","tag-winnipeg-jets","tag-winnipegjets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117597666472005616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}