#4. Connor Hellebuyck
Spoiler alert, but this is the first of two Connor’s we’ll be talking about today. As easy as it would be to leave a goaltender off this list, I couldn’t dare do this to the Winnipeg faithful.
In his last three seasons, Hellebuyck has finished top-two in Vezina Trophy voting, including winning the award last season. He’s arguably the best goaltender in the world right now and could make the Winnipeg Jets a dangerous team in a 56-game sprint.
At 26-years-old, Hellebuyck is still young, compared to when goaltenders typically hit their prime. You usually see a netminder hit their stride in their late 20s and early 30s, but clearly he’s ahead of his competition. With a .922 save percentage, 2.57 goals against average and six shutouts, he was the clear pick to win the Vezina last year. After the Jets’ defensive-core was dismantled in the off-season, Hellebuyck was brilliant and arguably the only reason why they made the Qualifying Series.
Locked into a $6.166M contract for the next four seasons, the Jets hit the jackpot with that deal. Right up there with Nathan MacKinnon, his price-tag could be the best bang for their “Helle-buyck” in the NHL. Sorry, not sorry, for that pun.