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Not So Fast - Mar. 25 2024 - Vol. 77 Issue 11 - Michael Traikos
(JAMES CAREY LAUDER-USA TODAY SPORTS)
IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER the Winnipeg Jets had lost in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights when coach Rick Bowness started calling the players asking for their summer wish list.
The answer he got back was universal.
The players didn’t necessarily want a high-scoring winger. Or a puck-moving defenseman. No one asked for more grit or more skill or even more experience.
Instead, they asked for loyalty. “Everyone told us, ‘We just want players here that want to be Winnipeg Jets,’” Bowness said.
And with that request, Pierre-Luc Dubois was shipped to Los Angeles for a package that included Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari. A few days later, former captain Blake Wheeler – who had the ‘C’ removed from his jersey a year earlier – was bought out.
The culling was not supposed to end there. With Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck both entering the final season of their contracts, it was almost assumed the Jets would move one or both rather than lose them to free agency the following summer. Had they wanted to, either could have written his ticket out of Winnipeg. But as the summer wore on, the Jets kept trying to sign them. All the while, teams were lining up and preparing their offers.
(JAMES CAREY LAUDER-USA TODAY SPORTS)
You don’t have to look hard to figure out who they were. There’s a long list of teams needing a No. 1 center and/or a No. 1 goalie. With each passing month, the list grew longer. And then, Scheifele and Hellebuyck shocked the market by signing identical seven-year extensions, each carrying a reasonable $8.5-million cap hit.
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WE’RE IN A WIN-AT-ALL-COSTS TYPE OF MODE. THAT’S THE REASON I SIGNED BACK WITH THEM– Connor Hellebuyck
“When we went to camp and they signed, it was a strong signal to every player in the organization and for the fan base,” Bowness said. “‘OK, these guys are in. They’re back here, and they want to be Winnipeg Jets.’”
Now, that’s loyalty. Remember that the next time someone suggests the Jets could be relocating from Winnipeg.
For Hellebuyck, there really was no other choice. Well, OK, there were choices. He probably could’ve gone to New Jersey and played with Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and a promising defense corps. Or maybe Detroit, which is closer to where he grew up. And for a while there, it did look like he was surveying his options. But stalling had more to do with the Jets than himself.
For many of Hellebuyck’s first eight years in Winnipeg, the Jets were considered Cup contenders. Before he signed on the dotted line, he needed assurances that wouldn’t change, especially with Wheeler and Dubois gone and the team getting younger.
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In other words, Hellebuyck was waiting to see what GM Kevin Cheveldayoff did. “We were just trying to be patient,” Hellebuyck said. “I think we’re in a win-at-all-costs type of mode. That’s the reason I signed back with them. They know how badly I want to win the Cup and how I’m not interested in a rebuild. They know that. I believe we’re on the same page.”
The trade for Vilardi and Iafallo certainly helped. So, too, did acquiring backup goalie Laurent Brossoit. Throw in the mid-season acquisitions of Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli, and it’s no wonder some are picking the Jets as a dark horse for the Stanley Cup. “He wanted to make sure we were invested in winning a Stanley Cup,” said Bowness of Hellebuyck. “As he told us after the season, he wants to win a Stanley Cup. And so, when we made the trade and the moves we made, he saw we were a stronger team and he has a chance.”
The truth is, Hellebuyck never wanted to leave Winnipeg. Not for more money. And certainly not for the sake of change. “I’m extremely pleased with staying,” Hellebuyck said. “I’ve got a really great goaltending coach, and I’m kind of one of the veteran guys now who has a big voice in the room. Leaving all that, we would kind of have to start from square one again. Being able to do what I do every single day to bring my A-plus game to Winnipeg is so crucial. I can tell them exactly what I need day to day, and they listen. That’s huge.”
One of the things the Jets heard from Hellebuyck was he was feeling burned out. He needed days off, and he needed to face less rubber. A year ago, no goalie started more games, and only two goalies – Juuse Saros and John Gibson – saw more shots. The latter is a trend he’s grown used to. Since breaking into the league in 2015-16, Hellebuyck has faced 1,250 more shots than the next-highest netminder (Gibson).
This season, that has changed – albeit slightly.
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Through 65 Jets games, Hellebuyck had already sat out 17. Last season, he missed just 18 in total. A lot of that is because, for the first time in a long time, Winnipeg has a backup in Brossoit who can be trusted almost as much as Hellebuyck. As well, Bowness has kept his word and cut down on the shots against, with only seven teams having allowed fewer shots per game.
“I did promise him when I took over that we’re going to make life a little easier and cut down on those Grade A (chances) against,” Bowness said. “But man, he’s a real pro. He comes to work every day, he’s upbeat, always has a smile on his face, and he’s always good to go.”
This has been one of Hellebuyck’s best seasons. And that’s saying a lot, when you consider he won the Vezina Trophy in 2019-20 and has been a finalist in three of the past six seasons.
The Jets have been a bit of a surprise this year – THN picked them to miss the playoffs – but Colorado and Dallas are still the teams to beat in the Central Division. Winnipeg has been right there with them, however, and the team has done it mostly by committee. Scheifele is the only Jet in the top 50 in NHL scoring. But with Hellebuyck back there, they don’t need to score much. “It’s almost the standard for him where you expect it now,” Kyle Connor said. “He comes in and throws up a shutout, and you almost just turn your head and expect it.”
When asked what’s different about Winnipeg’s play this year, Hellebuyck said the Jets are finally playing as a team. “Everybody’s been buying in defensively,” he said, “so we’re realizing we’re all really good players, and if you put in a really strong defensive system in, we can thrive in it. We’re creative in the offensive zone, but when it comes to our zone, we all respect it and are aggressive and have each other’s back.”
This is what makes the Jets so dangerous come playoff time. You’ve got a coach in Bowness who wants to win every game 1-0. And you’ve got a goalie in Hellebuyck who has a career playoff save percentage of .916. “Goaltending has always been the No. 1 priority,” said Bowness, who took Dallas to the final in 2020. “If you don’t get good goaltending, you’re not winning. It doesn’t matter what the coaches or players do, you have to have great goaltending to keep advancing and get to the Stanley Cup final.”
And so, the door to winning a Cup has been pushed back open. “I don’t know if it ever closed,” Hellebuyck said. “People might have closed the door on it a little early. But that being said, things change every single day. They really do. If you believe those rumors, you probably would’ve seen me on a different team this year. But that’s not the case. I signed, and now we have a really good team, and everyone believes we have a chance. Hopefully, that stays the storyline for the next six or seven years.”
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