Colorado Avalanche fans should run for the hills after hearing what the Winnipeg Jets turned down for Connor Hellebuyck earlier this summer.
As insider Elliotte Friedman pointed out in the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Jets passed on a truckload from the Florida Panthers for Hellebuyck. And that’s an offer that should shiver anyone’s timbers.
“I believe that their offer was Rodrigues, the picks that went to Ottawa in the Brady Tkachuk trade, and one roster player, not Lundell.”
So, we’re talking about a familiar face, Evan Rodrigues, who played 69 games for the Avalanche during the 2022-23 season, a guy who became a top-six forward for the Panthers at times during the three trips to the Stanley Cup Final, and a hoard of draft picks.
Those picks turned out to be the ninth-overall pick in 2026, the 25th-overall pick in 2026, and a 2029 first-round pick, in addition to a 2027 second-rounder, the ones Florida sent to Ottawa for Tkachuk.
Oh, there was a roster player in mind. The player in question was Anton Lundell, a guy who stepped up as the Panthers’ top-line center in Aleksander Barkov’s absence. Lundell is considered to be one of the NHL’s best young, two-way centers in the game. That’s why it’s easy to see why Florida said no.
Based on that intel, it’s clear that the Avalanche will have to surrender a king’s ransom for Hellebuyck. That’s why, needless to say, Colorado would have a really hard time making a deal, at least for the time being.
Avalanche just wouldn’t have the pieces to make deal happen for Hellebuyck
Consider what Friedman outlined in the trade package Florida offered for Connor Hellebuyck; the Avalanche just wouldn’t have the pieces to pull it off. The Panthers essentially offered three first-round picks and a serviceable middle-six forward, but were reluctant to give up a high-end position player.
If we translated that to the current Colorado roster, we’d be talking about at least the Avalanche’s 2029 first-round (Colorado doesn’t have a first-round pick in 2027 or 2028), potentially the 2027 second-rounder it has originally belonging to Minnesota, someone like Logan O’Connor, and perhaps someone like Sam Malinski.
But the real key to the deal would be the Jets’ willingness to get a goalie back. Could that goalie be someone like MacKenzie Blackwood?
It’s an intriguing thought. And when considering how little trade capital the Avalanche have, at least as far as a deal of this magnitude goes, Malinski, O’Connor, Blackwood, and a 2029 first-round pick might not be nearly enough to move the needle.
That’s why the only feasible way in which the Avs could land Hellebuyck is to be patient. The longer the Jets goalie sits twiddling his thumbs, the more likely the price could come down. Winnipeg seems hell-bent on sticking to its guns, so it may have to take a while before the sticking price reduces.
And if it does, Colorado may just have the pieces to pull off a deal at that point.
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