Elliotte Friedman reports that Connor Hellebuyck first asked the Jets to trade him to the Florida Panthers.
It's attributed reporting, not a confirmed move, and the Panthers have not commented. But it lands while Paul Maurice's crew still has a live goalie question of its own.
According to Friedman's long storyline on Hellebuyck, the goalie's first request to the Jets named Florida as his destination. Friedman noted that it was about the direction of the team.
The post is cut off, so the full report is not in front of us. Friedman also says the incident or incidents that bothered Hellebuyck did not come up at first, and that he eventually moved from one team because the Jets did not like what the Panthers were offering. The rest of that thought is missing, and we won't guess at it.
Hellebuyck is now listed with the New Jersey Devils, where he has played 5 games this season. How he got there is not part of the post, so that stays out of this story.
What the post does show is the Panthers' name attached to a top goalie's wish list. For a team that has leaned on two netminders this season, that stings a little and flatters a little at the same time.
Does this change the Panthers' goalie picture?
Not tonight. Akira Schmid is in net against Detroit, and the goalie call Maurice has been facing has not gone away. Schmid has 9 games played, Jacob Markstrom has 10.
The Panthers sit at 10-7-2, 14th in the NHL and 5th in the Atlantic. They won 4-1 at Columbus on Tuesday, but they are just 5-5-0 over their last 10, and that is not the record of a team that has settled its crease.
We think the report is a fascinating footnote and nothing more. A request Hellebuyck made to Winnipeg is history, and whatever Florida offered then is not what Bill Zito is working with now. Schmid and Markstrom are the goalies, and Zito has said nothing publicly in the material we have.
Markstrom's recovery was a story in its own right, and we followed Jacob Markstrom skating again before he returned. He has played 10 games since, so the veteran is clearly part of the plan.
Still, a report like this pulls fans' attention to what the position could look like down the road. Hellebuyck's name will keep coming up as long as the Panthers' crease stays a two-man discussion.
The Panthers host the Red Wings tonight. Detroit comes in 26th in the NHL and has lost 4 straight, so Schmid has a chance to keep the crease conversation quiet for one more night.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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