The Colorado Avalanche already have a solid goaltending tandem. Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood gave them stability last season, and on paper, there’s no urgent need to shake things up. But the NHL rumor mill doesn’t care about paper.
Elliotte Friedman, the insider at Sportsnet, dropped an interesting nugget on the season finale of the 32 Thoughts podcast. He said a couple of teams around the league wondered if Colorado took a shot at Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Not that he has sources confirming active trade talks, just that people around the league think the Avalanche at least kicked the tires.
“I don’t know how that could work, I don’t know what they would offer, and I’m not sure that Winnipeg would want to see that,” Friedman said. “But there were a couple of teams that were like, they kind of suspected that the Avalanche considered it.”
Hellebuyck has been one of the best goalies in the league for years. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 and finished top-three in voting three other times. Last season he played 57 games for Winnipeg with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t eye-popping, but anyone who watches him knows he’s often the reason the Jets are competitive most nights.
The Money Problem
Here’s where it gets tricky. Hellebuyck carries an $8.5 million cap hit. The Avalanche currently have about $400,000 in cap space, according to PuckPedia. So to make that work, something would have to give. Blackwood, who makes $5.25 million per season, would almost certainly have to go back to Winnipeg in any deal. The Jets might not want to see that, but money has to move.
Colorado’s asset pool is also pretty thin. They’ve traded away a ton of draft picks and prospects over the years trying to win now. They don’t have a loaded farm system to offer. The team is built around Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and a few other core pieces. Adding Hellebuyck would mean moving some of those pieces or finding a creative way to dump salary.
It’s been a busy offseason for GM Joe Sakic. He watched his top executive Chris MacFarland leave for the Nashville Predators in June. Then he traded Ross Colton and Jack Drury to Nashville, while shipping Valeri Nichushkin to the Columbus Blue Jackets. So the front office has already made some significant moves. This would be the biggest one yet.
Winnipeg signing Stuart Skinner to a contract extension at least gives the organization another NHL-caliber option if they ever decide to move Hellebuyck. But Skinner has never been viewed as a true replacement for a goalie of Hellebuyck’s caliber. He’s more of a solid backup than a franchise starter.
What the Rumor Actually Means
Friedman didn’t say a trade is close or even likely. He just floated the idea that some around the league think Colorado looked into it. That’s the kind of speculative smoke that tends to get blown into a fire in the hockey rumor world. But the idea of MacKinnon up front, Makar on the blue line, and Hellebuyck in net is enough to make any Avs fan drool a little.
Can it happen before next season? Probably not. But it’s worth keeping an eye on if the Avalanche stumble early. Hellebuyck doesn’t have a no-movement clause until after this season, so Winnipeg holds the cards for now. And the Jets have no reason to sell low on a guy who’s been their backbone for years.
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