Connor Hellebuyck did not get the start he wanted against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg on Tuesday, with Jake Allen in the visitor’s net and Hellebuyck on the bench as the backup. The New Jersey Devils made the call after debating it at length, turning a highly anticipated reunion into a game without the matchup most fans had circled since Oct. 23.
Scott Arniel called the decision a disappointment. He said he could feel the frustration in Winnipeg and made clear the omission only extended the story, with the teams not set to meet again until Nov. 28 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. For a crowd that had been waiting to see Hellebuyck back in Winnipeg, the absence landed as much as his presence would have.
The reason the game carried so much weight was simple: Hellebuyck’s move to New Jersey came after his offseason trade request and his suspension from the Winnipeg Jets after he failed to report for training camp. The return fixture had been marked on calendars almost immediately, and Kyle Connor said he never even considered that Hellebuyck would not play. That is why the decision to hold him out mattered beyond one lineup card. It changed the night from a reunion into another chapter in a split that still has unfinished business.
Sunny Mehta said the choice was organizational and had been debated at length. He said Hellebuyck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg, but the Devils believed that doing so could reduce their expected win probability. That is the math behind the call: if a player is carrying added emotional weight, the club judged that the distraction, the reception and the extra pressure could cut into the chance of winning, even if only in small ways that matter over 60 minutes. The Devils entered the game on a five-game winning streak after a 4-0 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs and at 13-5-0, so the choice was made with a team in form and a race in mind.
Hellebuyck said he told the club his thoughts and was told theirs, and that he had to listen to them. He also said he was adamant that he wanted to play, but the decision was not his to make. Adam Lowry, who played with him from 2015-16 until the trade, said he was surprised by the call and added that there were probably many discussions behind it that he was not part of. He said it was hard to pass judgment when he did not know everything that went into the choice.
For Winnipeg, the result is that the first meeting without Hellebuyck in the crease is over, but the issue is not. Arniel said the situation would linger until the teams meet again nine games from now, and that is where the next chapter waits: a game in Newark that may carry the same baggage, only on different ice.
