‘What we did this year was unacceptable’ Hellebuyck fires shots at club following Jets season exit By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:26 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 17, 2026

Connor Hellebuyck sure sounded like a guy who might not be long for Winnipeg.

The decorated Jets goaltender — and reigning men’s hockey Olympic gold medallist — came out firing on Friday about the current state of the NHL organization following one of its ugliest years on record.

Hellebuyck emerged from what we can only imagine was a fiery face-to-face meeting with the coaching staff and management to speak with the media inside the Jets room, where he lit a few matches before heading into what is now likely to be an extremely newsworthy and unpredictable off-season.

“What we did this year was unacceptable and no one wants to be a part of that. Where do we go from here and what’s the next step?” Hellebuyck began.

It’s a great question. And, incredibly, the answer might involve having to move on from the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner.

That became evident the more Hellebuyck spoke, specifically about whether he can see a quick turnaround on the horizon for a team with an aging core that just finished 35-35-12 — a 34-point drop from last year when they captured the Presidents’ Trophy.

“It’s hard. Can you get the pieces that you need? Will the players come? These are always questions that you have in Winnipeg,” said Hellebuyck.

“I’ve made it my home and I like it here, but the majority of the league doesn’t feel the same way. You look at your young guys, who is taking a step and who is going to take a big step. That’s not my job. My job is to stop the puck and make sure that I’m putting my best foot forward.”

And Hellebuyck, who turns 33 next month, was quick to remind everyone what his top priority was — and that his patience is starting to run thin.

“For me, it’s winning a Stanley Cup. That’s my goal and that’s what I have left. That’s what I want on my resumé,” he said.

“What we did this year was unacceptable and no one wants to be a part of that. Where do we go from here and what’s the next step?”

“I don’t play this game for the money, I don’t play it for the fame. I do it for my own personal fun and part of that is winning a Cup. For me, I’m just looking at — I’m hoping I get that. How can I get there?”

The Free Press asked Hellebuyck directly if his candid comments, combined with the obvious frustration he was feeling, mean some difficult conversations might be on deck between himself and the organization about his future.

Hellebuyck stood in front of the cameras and microphones, clearly thinking about how he wanted to answer the question.

Nearly eight full seconds passed before he spoke.

“I don’t want to go and leave any speculation. I love this city and I love playing here. The fans have given me so much and I’ve given so much to the fans. There’s a real connection there. I wish more people around the league would see that and could see that,” said Hellebuyck.

“Am I going to go in and tell you that right now I feel amazing about winning a (Stanley) Cup tomorrow? Like, no. No team out of the playoffs is going to say that. No player out of the playoffs is going to say that. But, you know, you make your decisions and you live by them. As time goes by, you try to re-evaluate.”

“As an athlete, the only thing you can do is put your best foot forward. You make your decision and put your best foot forward. That’s where my head is at right now,” he added.

Speculation about Hellebuyck’s long-term future began swirling shortly after the Olympics, where he drew plenty of criticisms from some quarters for celebrating the gold medal at the White House, which included accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Donald Trump — the highest civilian honour in that country.

This at a time when tensions between Canada and the U.S. had ratcheted up, including a trade war and plenty of bluster about the “51st State” from Trump.

Hellebuyck dodged the media for nearly two weeks but finally spoke publicly, defending his actions by saying he was proud of his accomplishments. He also criticized people who had gone after his family members, especially his wife, on social media.

“I played good enough to win a gold medal. And I’m telling you, my game wasn’t different before or after.”

Hellebuyck spoke Friday about the Olympics, saying the three weeks in Milan were the lone bright spot in an otherwise miserable year, which included undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in November and missing three weeks of action. His personal numbers were way down as well — 57 games, 23-23-11 record, 2.86 goals-against average, .895 save percentage.

“This year, it was chaos,” said Hellebuyck.

“I played good enough to win a gold medal. And I’m telling you, my game wasn’t different before or after. The surgery stunk and all of that. It was hard work getting back as quickly as I possibly can. That was a lot. But, it’s not like I felt my game died off by any means. I thought I kept growing and doing what I do every year, taking small steps forward and fixing things I need to fix and putting my best foot forward.”

Of course, the NHL team playing in front of Hellebuyck was a far cry from the one wearing the Stars and Stripes in Italy. And you wonder if that ultimate accomplishment has now planted the seed in Hellebuyck’s head of possibly trying to win that elusive Stanley Cup in another market.

Hellebuyck went on to lament the number of tipped and screened goals scored against him — ones he suggested he had “no control over.” He also spoke about the team playing “loose” in front of him and also took issue with the lack of overall team speed.

“There’s no secret we weren’t the fastest team in the league,” he said. “There’s a lot of screens and a lot of things that happened that I had no control over.”

Trading Hellebuyck certainly wasn’t in the cards for the Jets. He’s signed for five more seasons at a very reasonable US$8.5 million, with the salary cap projected to skyrocket in the coming years. Plenty of teams would no doubt engage in a bidding war for his services.

However, moving on would be a seismic shift in strategy for the Jets, who purport to be in “win now” mode even if this past year suggested that may be more of a dream than a reality.

“For me, it’s winning a Stanley Cup. That’s my goal and that’s what I have left.”

Hellebuyck was asked what the organization needs to do to make his life a little easier in the crease. He said that’s a great question for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who is set to speak with the media next week.

“From my perspective, I would like to see… complacency is not going to get us moving forward. So something has got to happen,” said Hellebuyck.

“I’m not going to just sit here and throw every guy under the bus because, honestly, I’m a goalie and I know goaltending really well. I can’t say this forward did this and that defence did that. That’s not my spot. But to just put that same product on the ice, I don’t think it worked for a reason.”

Is it possible that Friday was just a case of him blowing off some steam and, ultimately, cooler heads will prevail? Hellebuyck admitted he’s going to use a longer-than-expected off-season as an opportunity to reset and recharge, both physically and mentally.

There clearly are wounds. Might time eventually heal them?

“This is hard for any athlete that doesn’t make the playoffs. It’s the next day. All of a sudden you’re going to come over here and say we’re going to be amazing next year after we just did that (miss the playoffs). That’s not how it works,” said Hellebuyck.

“To take the step back that we did this year just felt very wrong. From the Presidents’ Trophy to this, it felt like this should have never happened. And it did. I’m part of it. I’m not saying that I’m not a big part of it, too. I am. Looking at the future, it takes time. It takes time to re-evaluate those things.”

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