Elite NHL goaltender reportedly seeking almost $10M annually

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote Friday that Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck is looking for a contract with an average annual value around $9.5M. LeBrun notes that teams eyeing a trade for the 30-year-old netminder are aware of what Hellebuyck’s camp is seeking in contract negotiations. If Hellebuyck were to get that salary, it would put him in the same pay bracket as Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Hellebuyck was the 2020 Vezina Award winner (NHL's top goaltender) and has a long track record of putting up elite numbers. However, he has also had a handful of poor seasons. With teams having just seen the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup with Adin Hill between the pipes, there might be a hesitancy to pay a premium in a trade – and an expensive cap hit – for a goalie who is on the wrong side of 30. You can’t fault Hellebuyck for asking for the moon. He was nominated once again for the Vezina after a terrific 2022-23 season in Winnipeg, on the strength of posting a 37-25-2 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average.

In other afternoon notes:

• Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweeted Friday that the Vancouver Canucks have apparently had discussions with defenseman Ethan Bear’s representatives about several contract possibilities. The tweet comes on the heels of a conversation with Bear’s agent, Jason Davidson, who said that they have discussed multiple options. A one-year contract may be the way to go for the 25-year-old. It’s an interesting idea from Bear’s camp given that the defender will be out until at least December after undergoing shoulder surgery this week. Bear is a year away from unrestricted free agency and the allure of picking his long-term destination may be worth the roll of the dice.
• Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweeted Friday that Bruce Cassidy had told reporters that goaltender Logan Thompson is skating and should be 100 percent by training camp. Thompson started the year as Vegas’ top goaltender, but suffered a lower body injury in February and did not play again for the campaign. When healthy, the 26-year-old posted good numbers, going 21-13-3 with a .915 save percentage and 2.65 goals against average. If Thompson is ready to go, it could give Vegas leverage in their contract negotiations with pending free agent netminder Adin Hill. Thompson would be a solid fallback option should Hill elect to test the market and move on.