A SNAFU is an acronym for a “Situation normal: all f–ked up.” The term was popularized during the Vietnam War and best describes a situation that becomes chaotic and messy when least expected. 

It also best describes New Jersey Devils general manager Sunny Mehta’s decision to start Jake Allen on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets over Connor Hellebuyck. Tuesday was supposed to be his much-awaited return to Winnipeg. Instead, the Devils announced Sunday night that they won’t start him.

Hellebuyck wanted to make the start. “Selfishly, I want to play, but when you look at what’s best for the team, I understand where they are coming from,” he stated in his postgame availability after the 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. “I love Winnipeg and playing there again and just facing the music and seeing the reaction; it would be nice, but it's out of my hands,” Hellebuyck added. 

Mehta and the coaching staff made this team decision. Mehta has wowed as the first-year GM for the Devils, turning them into a contender, seemingly overnight. That said, the decision ahead of Tuesday’s game is a SNAFU and his first mistake as the GM. 

It’s hard to criticize Mehta considering the job he’s done. The data-driven young GM has made savvy trades, including the blockbuster Hellebuyck deal, turning the Devils into a contender with the second-best record in the Metropolitan Division. 

The decision-making is analytically minded. Starting Hellebuyck against the Maple Leafs and then saving him for the home-and-home series on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14 against the Washington Capitals could increase the Devils' win probability, at least on paper. However, the game goes beyond analytics, and Mehta knows it. 

Hellebuyck wanted to make that start against the Jets. He was preparing for it as well, declining to comment about why he left Winnipeg and asking for a trade until the Tuesday night game, and issuing a statement on his Instagram page on Nov. 4, six days before his return. Hellebuyck wanted to face the fans and put this behind him.

Mehta wants to save Hellebuyck to give the Devils a better chance of winning, presumably at the end of the season. The Devils want him starting games against the division. “From our end of it, he’s playing his third game in six nights; he’s been at this for less than two weeks, and then after we finish this road game against Winnipeg, we go home with two big divisional games waiting for us,” head coach Sheldon Keefe noted to the media after the win over the Maple Leafs. 

Both the win-probability and divisional-matchup arguments are in question. Hellebuyck starting gives the Devils a higher win probability than Allen. The Devils are 5-0 in his starts while 6-3 in Allen’s starts. While the win is an outdated stat, Hellebuyck has 2.7 goals saved above average while his backup has -2.1 GSAA. While they might be saving him for the division, they didn’t do so over the weekend against the New York Islanders, a game the Devils nearly lost but came back and won 5-4. 

In short, Hellebuyck gives the Devils a better chance to win, and if the team were worried about the division, they would have turned to Allen more often to save him for the upcoming stretch. Instead, Hellebuyck started five of the last seven games. 

Now, this decision weighs on the Devils, certainly on Hellebuyck. The best way for the goaltender to close the trade chapter of his career was to start against the Jets. It might have been rowdy and a rough environment, but it would have allowed him to move on. Now, he must wait at least about a season for his return start to Winnipeg. 

And for a goaltender, a position that relies on the mental side more so than skaters, this can weigh on Hellebuyck. The best coaches and managers in hockey have a great feel for their players and understand them the best. This decision was made without emotion, which data-driven fans will cheer but others who have been around the game will criticize. 

For casual fans, the GM job is comparable to fantasy sports. They draft players, make trades, move them around in the lineup, and watch them have success. The job is more complicated than that. 

The great GMs prevent distractions from entering the room, and likewise, they put out fires. In sports, especially hockey, the outside noise can get to a team, but the best GMs prevent it from happening, and likewise, they build up strong relationships within the organization. 

Jim Rutherford’s downfall with the Vancouver Canucks can be traced back to the Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller rift. The two stars couldn’t settle their differences, and eventually one of them had to be traded; the Canucks had to rebuild from there. 

The Ottawa Senators looked poised for a regression when they traded away Brady Tkachuk this offseason, a star player who was a key part of their roster. Instead, the Senators remain a top team in the Eastern Conference, and the move helped remove a distraction that weighed on the team. 

This decision not to start Hellebuyck isn’t a distraction per se. However, it can become one. The Devils, like Hellebuyck, knew a big game against the Jets was on the way and were preparing for it. The atmosphere would be loud and intense, much like the playoffs, and playing well in that setting would prove they could handle the pressure and intensity. Instead, the air is taken out of the building. 

The Devils have won their last five games and have felt good about their play and where the team is. “We’ve been playing good with good structure,” Jesper Bratt noted after the 5-4 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 5, adding, “When we play this way, we’re going to win a lot of games.” They haven’t had any issues yet; they might have created one for themselves, especially if the Devils don’t play with the same energy. 

The key for the Devils heading into Tuesday night’s game is to make this story a non-story. Hellebuyck won’t start, and the Devils can still win and move on. It’s still early in the season, and this game can be seen as a bump in the road in a few weeks or months. 

The Jets will use this as extra motivation. They've won three games in a row and are finding their footing at the right time. They would love nothing more than to run Allen and the Devils out of town (and dare Keefe to pull the goalie if the start is bad enough). 

Hellebuyck will also speak to the Winnipeg media after the Devils' morning skate. It’s a good chance for him to answer the unsolved questions many Jets fans have about his departure and why he left while demanding a trade.

The closure for Hellebuyck will likely come after he starts a game in Winnipeg. However, he can provide some clarity until then and clear the air for his team. The Devils hope so, as they look to build on what’s been a great season so far.