Connor Hellebuyck Jets Trade Talk Heats Up as Camp Roster Trimmed to 34

Winnipeg Jets news — the roster is down to 34, and the biggest question in camp is not who is left, but who is not there. The Jets made their third round of training camp cuts, trimming a dozen players and consolidating into a single group. But Connor Hellebuyck — the two-time Vezina Trophy winner, the backbone of this franchise — remains suspended for failing to report, and now the trade rumour mill is spinning in earnest: Elliotte Friedman reports the San Jose Sharks and the Jets have discussed a Hellebuyck deal.

By Maplestime Sports Desk | Winnipeg, Manitoba | September 24, 2026

Sources: Illegal Curve | Sportsnet | Last updated: September 24, 2026

Key Takeaways

• The Jets cut 12 players from training camp, bringing the roster down to 34 and one group as camp enters its final stretch.
• Connor Hellebuyck remains suspended for failing to report; the Jets signed Stuart Skinner to hold the crease.
• Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says the Sharks and Jets have kicked the tires on a Hellebuyck trade, with San Jose’s Artemi Nizhegorodov injured and Yaroslav Askarov suddenly the projected starter.
• The final preseason game is Friday in Colorado; the regular season opens October 2 at home against the Boston Bruins.

The Sharks angle is real

Friedman, speaking on the FAN Hockey Show, said “tires have been kicked” on a potential Hellebuyck fit with San Jose — and the logic is not hard to see. Nizhegorodov, the Sharks’ big offseason addition, is out with a knee injury, leaving the 24-year-old Askarov as the projected starter for a team that is off to its best start in years and suddenly smells contention.

Hellebuyck carries an $8.5 million cap hit with two years remaining. San Jose has roughly $16 million in cap space, per PuckPedia — one of the few contenders that can absorb the contract without a salary-cap contortion act. Both teams have declined comment, which in hockey usually means there is something to not comment on.

The wrinkle: reports have suggested Hellebuyck has little interest in joining a rebuilding team. The question is whether San Jose, winning for the first time in years, still counts as one.

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg

The show goes on without him. Skinner, signed after the suspension, has been the story of camp — and the young players who survived the cut to 34 now get their last auditions with one group. The final preseason game goes Friday in Colorado, and then the games count: October 2, Boston, at home.

Related: Winnipeg Fall Events 2026 — The Complete Guide to Festivals, Hockey and Halloween Fun

Here is the uncomfortable question for Jets fans: is this the week the franchise goalie comes home, or the week the Sharks make him theirs? Buckle up.

Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons / Jenn G (CC BY-SA 2.0); Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).