10/27/2026 05:18:00
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10/27 12:31 CDT Connor Hellebuyck set for his New Jersey Devils debut as
starter in net at Dallas
Connor Hellebuyck set for his New Jersey Devils debut as starter in net at
Dallas
DALLAS (AP) --- Connor Hellebuyck is set to make his debut for the New Jersey
Devils when the goaltender starts at Dallas on Tuesday night.
"He is going tonight, yes," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said after the team's
morning skate.
The start will come four days after the 33-year-old three-time Vezina Trophy
winner was traded Friday to New Jersey after his suspension by the Winnipeg
Jets for failing to report to training camp.
Hellebuyck spent 11 seasons with the Jets, including a Presidents'
Trophy-winning season in 2024-25, and helped the United States win gold at the
Milan Cortina Olympics this year. A fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by Winnipeg,
Hellebuyck is fifth on the U.S.-born goaltenders list with 345 career wins.
Among U.S.-born goalies with 300 or more career starts, his .916 save
percentage ranks fourth and 2.58 goals-against average ranks sixth.
"Sitting at home for so long was getting to me. For myself, I'm just really
excited to play hockey again," Hellebuyck said Saturday, when he spoke to
reporters a day after the trade. "I'm joining a very skilled group. They
brought me for a certain specific role. I'm really excited to fill that role,
not only on the ice but off the ice as well."
Hellebuyck was skating in Michigan before the trade was completed. He has five
seasons left on a seven-year contact with an annual salary cap hit of $8.5
million.
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