Sabres' trade offer for Jets' Connor Hellebuyck revealed
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Sabres' trade offer for Jets' Connor Hellebuyck revealed originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Coming off their first playoff appearance in 15 years, the Buffalo Sabres aren't resting on their laurels.
They're going after one of the best goalies of his generation, Connor Hellebuyck.
The three-time Vezina Trophy winner also was the starting goaltender for Team USA as they won the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Now, he looks to be on his way out from the Winnipeg Jets. There doesn't appear to have been a formal trade request, but reports for the last month-plus have indicated Hellebuyck could move.
It sounds like the Sabres have a very real chance of pulling off such a deal.
And if they do, there's now a reported offer out there, too.
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos wrote on Wednesday that if the Sabres got Hellebuyck, the cost would likely be goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and winger Jack Quinn.
"The likely scenario here is Buffalo sending NHL netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jack Quinn, the eighth overall pick of the 2020 draft, to the Jets," Kypreos writes. "The Jets’ original ask was for Zach Benson, but the Sabres haven’t been willing to go there."
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Given that the Sabres just extended Benson after a monster postseason, it certainly makes sense that they wouldn't want him involved.
But if they can really get Hellebuyck for a cost of UPL and Quinn, that'd be a massive win.
Hellebuyck would be replacing Luukkonen, so that's no big deal. And the Sabres have a lot of young forwards, one of whom could take Quinn's spot.
If Winnipeg truly believes Hellebuyck doesn't want to come back, they'll have to take what they can get. But if that's all they can get, it would feel like a trade win for Buffalo.