This one just baffles me. There’s some real trade buzz regarding the Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck right now…
Despite the fact that the Hellebuyck is 33, despite the fact that he wants to “win now,” and despite the fact that the Red Wings don’t need to ravage their team in order to (supposedly) placate Dylan Larkin. The logic here suggests that both placating Larkin and bringing a Michigan native “home” might sway Hellebuyck’s camp.
Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon names the Red Wings as one of 8 possible destinations for Hellebuyck, and he’s not kidding…
Detroit Red Wings
Of the issues the Red Wings need to address, fixing goaltending is suddenly much lower on the list, but once a new GM is hired in Detroit, adding Connor Hellebuyck, a Michigan native, to the roster could go a long way to fixing another big problem with Dylan Larkin.
Although Larkin is eager to find a new team of his own, bringing Hellebuyck in to calm the waters and convince Larkin, his Olympic gold medal-winning teammate, to stay while helping the Red Wings’ efforts to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought. It could also be the kind of addition that turns Detroit’s fortunes around 180-degrees after a quiet offseason of moves.
Although the Wings have John Gibson as their No. 1 goalie, he’s set to become a free agent next summer. Hellebuyck is signed for five more seasons with an $8.5 million cap hit. Even if Gibson blocked a trade to Winnipeg, the Wings could put together a trade package to win the Jets over offering prospect goalie Trey Augustine among other young prospects currently in the NHL. There’s a lot of wish-casting as well as “ifs and buts” to this, but Hellebuyck returning home to save the Red Wings would be a heck of a story.
Continued, and TSN’s Martin Biron names the Wings as a destination for Hellebuyck as well (check out the 1:48 mark):
I just don’t see it actually happening, gang. Hellebuyck really wants to win now, and the Red Wings are not the team that’s going to be pushing for a 3 or 4-round playoff run, and there’s just no need for the Red Wings to decimate its prospect corps for the sake of adding someone who won’t simply want to “come home to Michigan.”
It’s a nice idea, but I think that it’s a little too convenient, honestly.
