Connor Hellebuyck Sets Expensive Price For Interested Teams

It's common knowledge by now around the NHL that Connor Hellebuyck is on the trade block. He's made it clear that he will not be re-signing with the Winnipeg Jets at the conclusion of his contract after this coming season.

Interested teams, we're now learning, have been told what it'll cost to re-sign the star goaltender, and it won't be cheap. According to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun, Hellebuyck's agents have told any team looking to acquire him that he is looking for a raise on his next contract from his current $6.1M AAV to something in the range of $9.5M. As LeBrun notes, that's "Andrei Vasilevskiy-esque money." 

No doubt, Hellebuyck's asking price is well-deserved, as the former Vezina winner is consistently one of the top netminders in hockey, and he's once again a Vezina Finalist this year. He finished this past season with a 37-25-2 record, along with a 2.49 GAA and a .920 SV%. 

Add the player and prospect cost of a trade to that $9.5M asking price on a new deal, and some teams just might be thinking twice about trading for the Jets' star goalkeeper. LeBrun notes that one executive told him that after watching Adin Hill make a storybook run to the Stanley Cup after sitting on the Vegas bench for two months, teams might think twice about tying up so much of their cap space on a goalie. 

But make no mistake, Hellebuyck is the cream of the crop, and some team will be happy to pay the price. 

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