Connor Hellebuyck is already #1 in pretty much all of the major goaltending stats in Winnipeg Jets history. Since being drafted in the 5th round, 130th overall in the 2012 NHL entry draft, Hellebuyck has been nothing short of a terrific goalie. Now I know the big question remains if Hellebuyck can prove himself in the playoffs, but that isn’t the topic of discussion today.

Despite some poor results in the 2023-24 playoffs, Hellebuyck himself said that he felt (key word felt) like he was playing well in the playoffs. The team behind Hellebuyck wasn’t at its best either, but part of being a goalie is still thinking about the team as a whole rather than being too focused on your own play. If Hellebuyck can carry that mindset into the 2024-25 regular season, he can achieve a milestone that only 39 goalies all-time have achieved: 300 career wins.

Among active goaltenders, Hellebuyck sits 8th all-time for career wins, with a total of 275. This number is more impressive when you look among the 7 goalies ahead of Hellebuyck in wins, only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is younger. This becomes a factor as Hellebuyck continues his climb on the all-time leaderboard for wins. Today’s goaltenders are far different than of the past. You’ll no longer see a starting goalie play 70+ games in a season, as the backup position has become more valuable. In return, goalies hope to be more durable, leading to less injuries and longer careers.

If you remember back to my article about a summary of Jets players that should reach milestones in the 2024-25 season, I included Hellebuyck reaching 300 career wins. The last 2 years, Hellebuyck won 37 games each season. This total is tied for 2nd only to Hellebuyck’s 44 win season in 2017-18, which may end up as a tough number to beat in the rest of his career. Regardless if the Jets take a step back from last season or not, it’s a pretty safe play to say that Hellebuyck will get 25 wins this season, barring an injury.

I mentioned already that Hellebuyck is #1 in almost all goalie categories in Jets 2.0 history, but what’s more impressive is by how much Hellebuyck is in the lead. Granted, the Jets 2.0 haven’t been around for ages, but you still have to take a moment to recognize Hellebuyck’s achievements thus far. If Hellebuyck reaches 29 wins this season, he will have a total of 304 wins. That number is double what Ondrej Pavelec achieved (152) during his time with the Thrashers and Jets 2.0. In terms of shutouts, Hellebuyck already has 37, which is 20 above Pavelec and just a few shutouts away from being top-50 in the NHL’s all-time list.

But back to the milestone to watch for this season, the 300 win mark. While a goalie’s win total is somewhat reflective of the team’s play, you can’t help but look at Hellebuyck’s career totals and averages thus far that have helped get him to 275 wins already. Hellebuyck’s career save percentage is .917%, which is well-above the league average. The league average when Hellebuyck joined the NHL was around .913, but the average has since dropped in 2023-24 to .903. The same can be said with goals against average (GAA). Hellebuyck’s career GAA is 2.62, and the current league average is around 2.92.

At this rate, the next question regarding Hellebuyck is will he be a hall of famer? I think a Stanley Cup or another Vezina will be required to have him enter the conversation, but he’s well on his way at this time. 275 wins, 2 Vezina trophies and the Jets franchise record holder for game played, wins, saves, and shutouts. Hellebuyck is also on pace to become the American goalie with the most career wins all-time. Jonathan Quick (who remains active) sits at 393 wins, so Hellebuyck will need to need to continue at a 30-win rate for around 4 seasons to achieve this record.

All of this is to say that Hellebuyck deserves his respect as the current greatest Jets goalie of all-time. The big 300th career win should happen sometime around January or February 2025, all depending on how the Jets upcoming season unfolds. It’s always a good feeling going into a season with a #1 goalie that you can trust, and the Jets have their guy in Hellebuyck for at least the next 6 seasons. The milestone watch will be on for Hellebuyck this season, and Jets fans should be excited to see what’s in store next for Hellebuyck’s so far wonderful career.