Report: Connor Hellebuyck To Hold Out From Winnipeg Jets Camp

Training camp is upon us this week, and the latest on the Connor Hellebuyck situation in Winnipeg is not good.

Appearing on TSN's Insider Trading Tuesday afternoon, Darren Dreger reported that a Helly Hold-Out is coming:

As we have this conversation as a group of insiders here, I do NOT believe Connor Hellebuyck will report to opening of training camp.

And if that is the case, then that will force the Winnipeg Jets to respond, either Wednesday or Thursday. There will be no immediate financial punishment, obviously, as NHL players don't start getting paid until the beginning of the regular season.

Hellebuyck is set to earn $8.5 million this season in Year 3 of his seven-year contract with the Jets. He will forfeit that for as long as he holds out. Training camp opens for Winnipeg this Thursday.

The three-time Vezina Trophy winner asked for a trade out of Winnipeg at the beginning of the offseason, and while there was some serious activity around the time of the NHL Draft in late June, Dreger says that hasn't been the case ever since. 

"Post-Draft, the trade interest has been minimal. There was lots of activity with Buffalo leading up to the draft, but very little since. Certainly nothing that would qualify as a package that (GM) Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets could worth with, fair value, in return for an elite goaltender like Connor Hellebuyck with years left on his contract."

Last notable NHL player under contract to hold out was over 25 years ago

From all accounts, the last time a star NHL player under contract staged a true holdout and forfeited salary was during the 1999–2000 NHL season, when Alexei Yashin sat out the entire regular season in a contract dispute with the Ottawa Senators. 

The only bit of hope that Jets fans have to hold onto from this report is this one qualifier from Dreger: 

"There's always always the possibility of a sudden change of heart."

After the Jets won the Presidents' Trophy for the NHL's best record in the 2024-25 season, the team fell off a cliff last year, missing the playoffs and finishing near the bottom of the Western Conference.

That prompted Hellebuyck, who was fresh off winning the Gold Medal with Team USA at the Olympics, to request a trade after the season.