The Winnipeg Jets off-season is beginning to ramp up as the NHL playoffs concludes in the next week or two. As rumours continue to be discussed around the NHL, nobody knows quite yet where certain players may be playing next season. One player that is locked in on the Jets is Connor Hellebuyck, so it’s a good time now to do his year in review. Connor Hellebuyck had an amazing regular season, one of the best you’ve probably ever seen from an NHL goalie. His stats in the playoffs were up and down, but looking back at his season as a whole, Hellebuyck did what he needed to do in order to likely secure his 3rd Vezina Trophy at the upcoming NHL Awards night.

Nicknamed, “Bucky”, “Helly”, and even “Vezinabuyck”, Connor Hellebuyck is the definition of a star NHL starting goalie. This season, Hellebuyck shared the crease with Eric Comrie, appearing in 63 games. This was Hellebuyck’s 9th full season as the Jets number 1 goalie since he was drafted 130th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The 32 year old from Michigan represented USA at the 4 Nations Face Off tournament, earning the starting role over fellow Americans Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman. Only a year into his latest contract, Hellebuyck had no distractions this season and that helped him post several career highs.

Goalie stats are not always as “easy” to understand, as several factors come into play when you’re evaluating their overall skill level. Hellebuyck was easily a top 3 goalie this season, and his numbers don’t lie when arguing for him to win his 3rd Vezina Trophy. In 63 games, Hellebuyck went 47-12-3 with 8 shutouts and 2.00 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. 47 wins was the most by any Jets goalie in a season, and Hellebuyck was just 1 win away from tying Brayden Holtby and Martin Brodeur’s NHL record of 48 wins, all while playing less games. 8 shutouts, a 2.00 goals against average and the .925 save percentage were Hellebuyck’s best of his career.

The story that always comes up with Hellebuyck is how he plays in the playoffs. After back to back first round exits where Hellebuyck was “blamed” for some of the Jets playoff defeats, this post season run saw mixed results from Hellebuyck. In 13 playoff games, Hellebuyck went 6-6-1 with 2 shutouts, a 3.08 goals against average and a .866 save percentage. The numbers at home were terrific and the numbers on the road were pretty bad, making for an interesting playoff split between “good and bad”.

Hellebuyck signed his most recent contract, a seven-year contract with a total value of $59.5 million back on October 9th, 2023. His average annual value of $8.5 million ranks him 5th among all NHL goalies, and the Jets have been getting great value out of Hellebuyck. In the 2025-26 season, Hellebuyck will have a base salary of $10 million (cap hit is still $8.5 million), as he continues his starting role with the Jets. Hellebuyck is going to be a Jet for life, and as long as the Jets have a reliable backup goalie, Hellebuyck can continue to appear in 55-60 games per season.

So what’s next for Hellebuyck in the 2025-26 season? Is there anything more he could do to elevate his game to more record breaking numbers? After he likely wins his 3rd Vezina Trophy, Hellebuyck will be out to repeat the tremendous success he had in the 2024-25 regular season. Hellebuyck’s numbers were so good this regular season that it will be tough to keep setting new career highs, but you know Hellebuyck is going to challenge himself to keep being better. If Hellebuyck can find some success on the road in the playoffs next season, the Jets could be in for a long playoff run if everything else goes to plan. It’s uncommon for most teams to have a goalie that they can always rely on, but the Jets have just that with Connor Hellebuyck, which is why he deserves all the praise he gets and more.