Connor Hellebuyck will have surgery on his knee Saturday and will be out 4-6 weeks for the Winnipeg Jets.
“Obviously, he’s, what is it, 10 years, he’s been pretty healthy,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said Friday. “And this has kind of been nagging on him here since training camp. It’s something we’ve kind of known about, he was trying to play through it, would be good days, bad days, just something that, timing’s right, get it done now.
“A lot of schedule ahead of us, so that was really just the thinking. Sat down, talked to him, obviously the medical staff, everybody, agent. This was the time to do it.”
Hellebuyck, who won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL last season, is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 14 games this season. He last played on Nov. 15, allowing three goals in a 4-3 shootout win against the Calgary Flames.
Last season, Hellebuyck went 47-12-3 and tied for the NHL lead with 63 games played. He led all goalies in wins, goals-against average (2.00; minimum 25 games) and shutouts (eight), and was second in save percentage (.925). He became the fifth goalie to win the Hart and Vezina in the same season, and helped Winnipeg win the Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the League and the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals.
Hellebuyck is expected to return in time for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, which opens with preliminary games on Feb. 11. Hellebuyck has not been named to the roster but was one of three goalies on the U.S. team at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and started three of their four games.
Eric Comrie will start against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FDSNSO). The Jets backup goalie is 4-1-0 with a 2.60 GAA and a .908 save percentage in five games this season.
Winnipeg recalled Thomas Milic from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Friday. He is 5-2-2 with a 2.14 GAA and a .921 save percentage in nine AHL games this season.
“We’re talking 4-6 weeks so I’m not sure, but I don’t think Eric can go all those games so [Milic] going to have to play,” Arniel said. “At the end of the day, it’s next man up. It really is. We’re not replacing Connor.”
A three-time Vezina Trophy winner (also 2019-20, 2023-24), Hellebuyck leads the NHL in wins since the 2020-21 season with 182. He is 330-191-44 with a 2.56 GAA, .918 save percentage and 45 shutouts in 582 regular-season games (572 starts) since being selected by Winnipeg in the fifth round (No. 130) of the 2012 NHL Draft. He is 24-34 in 58 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“To put it plainly, it [stinks],” Jets captain Adam Lowry said. “You lose the Hart Trophy winner, the Vezina winner, the best goalie in the world for an extended period of time, so it’s tough news. … We have all the confidence in the word what Eric can do, what ‘Milly’ can do.”
The Jets (12-7-0) are third in the Central Division.
You must be logged in to post a comment.