Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck Deserves 2024 Vezina Trophy

Hellebuyck’s personal numbers certainly prove his worthiness of being “adjudged to be the best” goaltender, to use the NHL’s official parlance. In 60 starts, he won 37 games (second in the league behind the Colorado Avalanche’s Alexandar Georgiev in three fewer starts) and posted a 2.39 goals against average, .921 save percentage, five shutouts, and 40 quality starts. His GAA was second-best among goalies who made 50-plus starts, his SV% was the best among those, his shutouts tied him for second league wide, and his 40 quality starts were most in the league.

His goals saved above expected, at 33.1, was best in the league by far; more than 10 better than the second-place goaltender, Demko, whose GSAA was 22.1, His wins above replacement (WAR) of 5.52 — a metric that uses one number to illustrate the value (in wins) an individual player provided over a “replacement level” player — was also best in the league. Demko, who finished second, had a 3.69 WAR.

Hellebuyck was also named an NHL All-Star for the fourth time in his career and played in his 500th-career NHL game on March 30 against the Ottawa Senators.

Hellebuyck Is the Straw That Stirs Jets Drink

The Jets’ recommitment to playing well without the puck made his life a little easier on some nights compared to seasons past, and their stout structure combined with his trademark “big and boring” play style allowed them to go 34-straight games without surrendering more than three goals between November and late January. However, on other nights — a little more often during the back half of the season — they leaned on him heavily to win.

His 35-save performance against the New York Islanders on Jan. 16, 35-save performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 10, 39-save performance against the Rangers on March 19, and a season-high 45-save performance against the Nashville Predators on April 9 — all Jets wins — stand out as just a few times he dragged his team kicking and screaming to victory. it’s almost unthinkable to envision where the Jets would be without him, which seemed like a nearing and inevitable reality just last summer.

Hellebuyck garners consistent praise from his coaches and teammates, and anyone who pays even the smallest iota of attention to the team knows he’s the straw that stirs the drink. “There was no win without him, it’s as simple as that,” which is what head coach Rick Bowness said after the 45-save performance against the Predators, is a quote that could apply to many dozens of games since his 2015-16 rookie season.

TSN’s Director of Scouting Craig Button, a longtime hockey analyst, believes Hellebuyck is a “lock for the Vezina.”

“Lets talk about who might be the runner up, because Connor Hellebuyck has been that great — not good — that great for the Winnipeg Jets,” he said on a segment with Jay Onrait last week. “When you have the ability of Connor Hellebuyck to close down the net, the calm, the real good composure — quiet feet I like to call it — Connor Hellebuyck is able to do so many things to make sure that as a shooter, you’re not seeing the net, you’re not seeing somebody you can break down.

“Even on breakaways, you see players trying to move him. He just moves with you, and when you get ready to take a shot, you’ve got no net to shoot at,” he continued.

Despite that, Hellebuyck is arguably still underrated league-wide. In the annual NHL Players’ Association poll, released April 10, he didn’t even crack the top three goalies players want in their net for a must-win contest (the top three were the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Shesterkin, and the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.)

Hellebuyck Wants Stanley Cup Above All Else

However, a lack of accolades or recognition is not likely to bother Hellebuyck much. Even individual awards, regardless of how prestigious, are secondary to him. Just prior to winning his first Vezina in 2020, he said it “would be a great milestone and it would definitely be one of my goals achieved, but at the end of the day, what I truthfully want is the Stanley Cup and a chance to win it.”

His longing for Lord Stanley’s mug has not waned since then. His burning desire to win was one of the reasons many pundits, this author included, believed he’d leave the club — one that seemed destined for a rebuild after a disappointing first-round exit in last year’s playoffs — an unrestricted free agent after this season, or be traded before he could leave for nothing. His statements at his 2023 exit presser, that he where he expressed he felt he was “starting to run out of time” to win a Cup and wasn’t interesting in being a part of a rebuild, didn’t bode well for his future in Winnipeg.

However, Hellebuyck clearly liked the on-the-fly retool general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff orchestrated over the offseason, and put pen to paper to make him a likely Jet for life. The team’s contention window is obviously open after their 52-win season — which ties a franchise record — and Hellebuyck should have at least a couple shots at what he wants most, with the first shot being this spring. He’ll be key to any type of run.