Months following his official trade request away from the Winnipeg Jets, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck finally got his wish as he was sent to the New Jersey Devils on Friday afternoon. Hellebuyck, the regular season MVP in 2025 and Olympic gold medal-winning goalie from 2026, has yet to play this regular season as he failed to report to the team. He might need some time to get up to speed, but at least this chapter is behind him (and all of us). Here is the entire package:

Let's break it down.

What New Jersey Gets

Not much needs to be said at Connor Hellebuyck at this point. For years, he was the best goalie in the world in the regular season. He had a down year in 2025-26, but even then he was average by Goals Saved Above Expected per 60 minutes among starting goalies, as calculated by MoneyPuck. His bad year on a bad team amounting to 'league average starting goalie' tells us just how good he is, and how good he can be.

The Devils have been undone by poor goaltending not only this season, but in years prior. If Hellebuyck is at his best, they have something in net they haven't had since Martin Brodeur.

This trade relegates Jake Allen to the backup role where he may only get 15-20 more starts this season. It also puts Hellebuyck in a position to be a top-3 fantasy goalie from the moment he returns to the lineup.

It also locks the goaltending tandem in New Jersey for a while. Allen has three more years left after this one while Hellebuyck has four (per PuckPedia). Barring another goalie trade, the Devils won't have a prospect be even a backup in their organization until 2030.

What Winnipeg Gets

This is where I profess I never 'got it' with Dawson Mercer. He has had plenty of opportunities to find success with Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes over the years but he has 1.34 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 since the start of the 2023-24 season. That is 3+ years of genuine fourth-line production. He is fine defensively and can kill penalties, but he turns 25 years old next week and has over 400 regular season games played. This isn't a prospect. Maybe things change in Winnipeg, but my bet is that they try him somewhere in the top-6 for a while and find out what New Jersey figured out: he is not a top-6 forward.

All that said, they will try him in the top-6, a spot he hadn't skated much of this season. He had lost over three minutes of ice time, so this could be a general improvement. However, if he goes to the second line, they have had a lot of trouble scoring this year, and he won't help much. He also won't get a top PP role, so he should be better fantasy-wise just because of improved ice time, but his situation isn't any better unless he takes Cole Perfetti's role on the top line.

On the topic of 'not a prospect', Nico Daws turns 26 years old before Christmas. He has generally been fine at the NHL level but has just 54 starts in his career, and if New Jersey thought he was a good starting goalie, they wouldn't have made this trade. He likely splits starts with Stuart Skinner for now, but if Daws isn't better than he's been, Skinner could very well just keep the starting role.

Nick Bjugstad is bottom-6 depth. He is on long-term injured reserve following a pec surgery that should keep him out of the lineup until early 2027.

Alex Command went 12^th overall in June's Entry Draft. You can read his Dobber profile here. The Prospects Report believes his upside to be a good two-way middle-6 centre, and that's a solid player, but it won't be hugely impactful in the fantasy game. He is playing in Sweden this year so there isn't much concern for fantasy owners right now.

This removes a big roadblock to goalie prospects like Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis. If either can rise in the organization, there is now a genuine path to a starter’s role a couple of years down the road.

Who This Helps

Connor Hellebuyck

Dawson Mercer

Thomas Milic

Domenic DiVincentiis

Who This Hurts

Nico Daws

Alex Iafallo