Jets grapple with losing reigning MVP Hellebuyck. His knee surgery sidelines the Vezina winner for weeks, leaving a massive void in net.
The Winnipeg Jets have quickly fallen behind the eight ball since news of Connor Hellebuyck's knee injury.
With the team announced the minor knee procedure needed by their star goaltender, the news caused shockwaves across the NHL.
Hellebuyck, now 32, is the reigning Hart Trophy winner and back-to-back Jennings and Vezina Trophy winner from the past two seasons.
His numbers and play between the pipes have been sensational for a long time, and his contributions to the Jets' recent success may be greater than any other individual within the organization.
However, his arthroscopic knee surgery will require a four-to-six week recovery timetable, meaning he will not be back in action until some point in January at the earliest. He will then need to get back up to speed should he even be considered for the United States' Olympic Team.
The Jets, on the other hand, have already shown their weaknesses without their No. 1 backstop in the fold.
“Obviously we’ve been really fortunate to have Helle be healthy and available," alternate captain Josh Morrissey said of his goaltender's overall health. "His durability is something to marvel at. Obviously now without him, you can’t replace a guy like that. But we’re super confident in Coms and Milly and our defensive game. But definitely, we’ve been fortunate to not have him out of the lineup for a whole lot of years.”
Eric Comrie, who is as good of a backup as one may find across the league, isn't the longterm solution in goal. But he will have to do for the time being.
“I know everyone here does watch Eric’s starts over the last few years. He’s played incredible," Morrissey added.
"I think last year his record, we didn’t give him a lot of run support in some of those back to backs and tough situations. But he’s played well enough to have us win all those hockey games. He’s stolen some games and stolen some points for us over that time, with some tough scheduling starts. I have all the confidence in the world in him. Everyone in the room loves Coms. He’s a great goalie. The league probably doesn’t see it a lot. He’s going to get that opportunity here to show his stuff.”
Comrie, 30, has fared alright in his three games since Hellebuyck went down, but only has one win to his name. On the season he is 4-3-0 with a 2.87 goals against average and a .899 save percentage. Not quite Hellebuyck numbers, but they will suffice.
Despite the recent back-to-back home losses to Carolina and Minnesota, captain Adam Lowry believes in his crew and current No. 1 backstop, despite Hellebuyck's current situation.
“To put it plainly, it sucks.," he said. "You lose the Hart Trophy winner, the Vezina winner, the best goalie in the world for an extended period of time. It’s tough news, but we talked about it though. We have all the confidence in the world in what Comrie can do, what Milly can do. Comms has come in and had a stellar start to the year. He had a great year for us last year. He puts in so much time and effort in the gym, on the ice before and after practice, working with Flatts, talking with Helle, I think that he’s prepared for the increased workload. We’ve got all the confidence in the world that he’s going to come in and give us a chance to win every night.
"It’s important that we continue to try to improve in the areas that the last few weeks I think we have. That’s defence, that’s the chances we are giving up, neutralizing the rush, if we can play better defensively in front and then we can make Comms’ job more easier for him then we can kind of continue climbing the standings.”
Winnipeg has hit the road for another lengthy trek through the States. The five-game road trip includes stops in Washington on Wednesday, Carolina on Friday, Nashville on Saturday and then two more games in Buffalo and Montreal before the Jets head back home on Friday, December 5.
Within that stretch, it is believed that recent AHL call-up Thomas Milic will garner his first (and maybe second) NHL start. On the other side of things, if this five-game trip goes poorly, the option of bringing in local, veteran options in net could also be in play. Chris Driedger (Winnipeg), James Reimer (Morweena) and Michael Hutchinson (Winnipeg resident) are all names that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has on speed dial, should his new starting tandem falter.