Winnipeg Jets Crowded Crease
What do you do when you’ve got a crowded crease and three 3 legitimate options for starting goaltender? We’ll get that answer as the regular season approaches for the Winnipeg Jets. A story broke on Sunday afternoon written by NHL correspondent Aaron Vickers via NHL.com discussing Connor Hellebuyck’s push for a NHL gig.
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Long-time Thrashers/Jets G Ondrej Pavelec sets out to defend his goal once again. A year later, and both Michael Hutchinson and Connor Hellebuyck seemed to have taken a step forward in development.
To make things more confusing, Pavelec is coming off his best regular season of his career. Unfortunately, his playoff performance left a lot to be desired.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt in the past year, two is a couple, but three is a crowd (and crowd’s don’t last). Both Vancouver and Ottawa decided during the offseason that two quality goaltenders is enough, trading away Robin Lehner (Ottawa) and Eddie Lack (Vancouver).
Apr 11, 2015; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (30) prior to the game against the Calgary Flames at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
Logic would therefore dictate that we should see one of these three Jets goalies moved within the next calander year. But who should it be?
Trading Ondrej Pavelec would be the logical choice. He carries a 3.9 mil cap hit and set to become a free agent in 17-18. Pavelec has career numbers of 2.86 GAA and .908 SV% over 338 games played.
The numbers do not properly reflect Ondrej’s skill set. Much of those numbers were accumulated with basement dweller teams, which is somewhat expected. In 14-15 he posted 22 wins with a 2.28GAA and .920 SV% in 50 games, while splitting time with Michael Hutchinson.
Hutch made 38 appearances in goal, tallying 21 wins with a 2.39 GAA and .914 SV%. Down in St.John’s last year, young Connor Hellebuyck took over control of the starters role posting 28 wins with a 2.58 GAA and .921 SV%, which also earned him a spot in the AHL all-star game.
“He built on his season, outdueling Pavelec and the Czech Republic in the bronze medal game to help USA to a medal game at the IIHF World Championship in May. Hellebuyck won seven of eight games with a 1.39 GAA and .948 SV%, and was named to the tournament’s All-Star team alongside established NHLers Brent Burns, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jaromir Jagr, Jason Spezza, and Taylor Hall.” via NHL.com
There’s a chance the Jets lose a goaltender no matter what if NHL expansion does indeed occur in 17-18. Past expansion rules make protecting two goalies near impossible. The hope would be that one of Hutchinson or Hellebuyck develop into an elite netminder.
Jets White Out
If both become extremely good, the Jets could do what San Jose did back in 2000 with Evgeni Nabokov. He wasn’t on the save list, but the Sharks were able to offer future considerations for agreeing not to draft Nabokov.
Having three goalies to pick between is a rare luxury, leaving the Jets in a conundrum that most teams could only wish to be in. The Double H tandem in Hutchinson and Hellebuyck seems to make the most sense when you weigh out the skill set to the cap hit.
The question is, do the Jets organization and fan base feel the same way?