The Hellebuyck situation more difficult than it looks?

It would be interesting to know what the offers that Winnipeg are that Cheveldayoff considers "terrible" but I am actually not surprised that they may be very underwhelming. Quite simply, the value of goaltenders just is not what it used to be in the league today. Especially a goaltender with 5 years left on his contract and pushing 34 years old. This is not to say that Hellebuyck is not elite, he certainly is, but more and more it seems teams are willing roll the dice with an average goalie or two and hope they play well over talking what maybe a more secure swing with top end guys like Hellebuyck. Carolina won last year with an injury prone Frederik Anderson who has been very inconsistent over the last few years and a relatively unknown young goaltender in 28-year-old Brandon Bussi whom they picked up off waivers from the Florida Panthers and had no N.H.L experience. AAs analytics continue to grow in influence in the NHL the narrative of not spending big cap on goaltenders seems too as well. This thought process has been common among analytics valuing teams for a while now. 

Two of the teams that are well known to put high value on said analytics models are the aforementioned Carolina Hurricans and the New Jersey Devils who are led by analytics guru Sunny Mehta . The same Mehta who immediately traded the Devils higher priced number one goaltender to his old team, the Florida Panthers and replaced him with David Rittich from the Islanders who has, coincidentally, showed very good underlying data the last two years and comes in at 1 million dollars. Those two teams have been mentioned as potential trade partners for Hellebuyck and apparently have made some sort of offers, but it is no wonder why they would not be all that satisfying of ones. Buffalo was said to have been close to a deal at the draft but apparently, they asked to flip first rounders rather than just give one to Winnipeg and the deal was squashed. Now it would seem that whatever was on the table has been taken off or it is the same offer without a the high draft pick. My thinking is that Buffalo has just come to realize that they have all the leverage as no other teams are all that interested. 

The last issue would be the same issue that has seems to have Hellebuyck taking this stance. At his exit presser after the season was over Connor expressed how much he loved the city of Winnipeg, but it would seem most of the league does not see it as he does. This would seem accurate as Winnipeg is often mentioned as being the least desirable destination for players in the NHL. By saying this we can safely suggest that Helleybuyck felt that the organization's inability to attract players was a big component to why they were not able to get over the hump to make a significant run in the playoffs, or in the case of last year make them at all. The thing is, that very problem is another reason why offers may be light. Most players with no trade clauses in their contracts, probably have Winnipeg on their list. So what does Winnipeg do now?

It would seem the popular though is to wait for injuries to happen to goaltenders during the season, which could make a team more desperate to offer a better deal. The problem? It would have to be a very serious injury as Hellebuyck comes in at over 8 million per year for the next 5 years and whenever the injured goaltender would return it would probably put a pretty huge strain on that team's cap situation. When it comes down to it Winnipeg is stuck in a lot of ways until this situation is resolved. It sounds to me like Connor will not report to camp so Winnipeg is going to have to give it a go without him in the lineup and really will not be able use the cap space that they would get with suspending him until they know what kind of return they could get or on the off chance he returns they will need it available. The long Connor sits the less the probable value he has, which apparently is not that high already. Who knows, they may eventually just have to part ways and call it even.