Connor Hellebuyck won't start for the Devils on Tuesday when they face his former Jets team for the first time since Hellebuyck requested a trade out of Winnipeg earlier this year. But the goaltender addressed in depth the "complex" personal and professional reasons behind his trade request after declaring himself a "Jet for life."
"There are a few moments that I don't want to see happen again, and it is more than just [receiving] online death threats," said Hellebuyck. "There were some moments and some things that happened to my family that, for me, crossed the line. As a husband and a father, I felt [that] made that decision very certain that I needed to be a good husband, a good father, and do what's best for my family and my career."
Hellebuyck requested "privacy" and refused to elaborate on where the specific messages came from and if he had actual evidence showing that the threats had come from the Winnipeg population. He did not provide the Jets organization with any of the communications, despite acknowledging the team would have done "whatever it took to help me." Hellebuyck opted instead to not report to the team until Jets' GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could orchestrate a trade with five years remaining on the seven-year, $59.1 million pact Hellebuyck had agreed on.
That finally came about last month when the Devils acquired Hellebuyck in a blockbuster deal that so far has played out well for New Jersey. Hellebuyck is 5-0-0 since joining the Devils, with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. It was after Hellebuyck's 4-0 shutout against Toronto on Sunday that New Jersey announced he would not start Tuesday in his Winnipeg homecoming because, per a news release, doing so would "potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability." Coach Sheldon Keefe further clarified an upcoming home-and-home series against their Metropolitan Division rival Washington Capitals as justification for resting Hellebuyck.
Still, Hellebuyck wanted to play and get that first start in his old building out of the way. When it wasn't in the cards, Hellebuyck was still willing to face the music on how his tenure ended.
"I know from the outside looking in, you can say, 'Oh, you did this wrong, you did that wrong,' and maybe we did," Hellebuyck said about how he and his family went about their exit from Winnipeg. "We're human. We might make mistakes along the way, but the way we handled it is the way that we wanted to handle it, and how we're going to continue to handle it is with privacy."
Stating the media "will probably eat me alive regardless of what I say," Hellebuyck deferred repeatedly on opportunities to illustrate how the city of Winnipeg became so unsafe it forced his hand in asking to leave. What Hellebuyck could admit was that the deed was done, and whatever reception was waiting for him during warmups on Tuesday -- likely the only chance Jets fans will have to see him on the ice -- he's prepared to accept it.
"To the people that feel that I've been disloyal, well, there's also a lot that I was not expecting to happen go on throughout this contract [when I signed it]," he said. "And the day that I said I was a Jet for life, I meant it, but I also didn't foresee the future that was going to happen. I've made my decision. I've made it clear, and I've sacrificed a lot to live by that decision. If that's not enough for you, then I don't know if I have any other answers for that."
