Can the Pittsburgh Penguins afford to go big game hunting to solve the goaltending issue?

Pittsburgh Penguins' President of Hockey Operations, Kyle Dubas, has his work cut out for him this summer. Tasked with the responsibility of healing a fractured front office and an underachieving roster, Dubas is in for a summer of tough decisions. The top priority remains in the net as Dubas needs to figure out the most pivotal position in the NHL.

One of the top names that could be available was loosely linked to the Penguins, Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck is one of the few remaining goaltenders that could be considered a workhorse in net. He has started 60 or more games in his last four full (82-game) seasons and started 103 of 127 games during the two COVID-shortened seasons.

Making his performance more impressive in those starts, he recorded a save percentage of .917 and a goals-against average of 2.65 over the past six seasons. Hellebuyck was also awarded the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's top goaltender, following the 2019-20 season.

With the Winnipeg Jets potentially looking to rebuild, Hellebuyck and a handful of the other Jets star players could be heading for a new team this summer. The Penguins need a stabilizing force between the pipes, and not many netminders have been as steady as Hellebuyck since he entered the league.

The one thing that will slow this seemingly perfect marriage is the price. There hasn't been any word on what the Jets might be looking for as a return for Hellebuyck, but one has to imagine that it starts with a 1st round pick, a top prospect, and another young NHL talent.

With the number of holes on this Penguins roster, would they be able to afford that price and still have enough left to fix the defense and bottom six?

The long-time national narrative surrounding the Jets was that Hellebuyck carried a team that lacked talent on the defensive side of the puck. The Penguins ranked much lower in both shots allowed and expected goals allowed per 60 minutes than the Jets last season.

While acquiring Hellebuyck would fix many of the problems in Pittsburgh, their bottom-third defense will still need restructuring to turn this team into a contender. With a shallow free agent class and very few NHL-ready prospects, the price might be too high for the Penguins to acquire Hellebuyck and fix the rest of this roster.

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