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The Devils just robbed the NHL, it's over, the Connor Hellebuyck sweepstakes no longer exist because a general manager six months into his tenure decided to make the biggest trade in franchise history. Welcome in Devil fans, glad to have you here today, actually very glad to have you here today. I've never been so excited to make a video so if you haven't already please go ahead hit the subscribe button it helps out the channel a ton. Likes don't hurt too much either and this this certainly won't hurt the New Jersey Devils just traded for Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets yes you heard that right you're looking at your screen correctly Connor Hellebuyck is officially a New Jersey Devil going back the other way Dawson Mercer Alexander Kummund Nick Bjugstad Nico Dawes a 2029 second round pick and a 2027 seventh round pick So, let's think about where this all started, because it started a while ago. Look, Connor Hellebuyck said it himself. He sent out a message. You know, we've been trying to make this work, trying to find a trade for a while. It's not working. And that's when things started to get a little ugly. But they were just going to get more ugly, because then all of a sudden, Connor Hellebuyck's like, well, if you won't trade me, I don't want to play here anymore. I'm just not going to play. I don't need to play right now. and that's exactly what Connor Hellebuyck did so all of a sudden things are looking gloomy you know very dim so how are you going to make things sunny again you're going to trade him to the New Jersey Devils because Connor Hellebuyck is officially a New Jersey Devil um you know thinking about this trade because i said it in the beginning this was the biggest trade in Devil's history this is when you compare it to all the other ones and i know trades like Scott Stevens Ilya Kovalchuk, Taylor Hall, look all great players, Hall of Famers but when you think about the resumes that they had beforehand let's go ahead and take a look at Connor Hellebuyck's resume and let me know how often a player like this gets traded so we look at this well he's got three Vezinas he's won a Hart and he also won a gold medal back in February so how many players goaltenders have won the Hart Trophy the answer is eight how many goaltenders have won three Vezinas in the past 40 years the answer is four who were the other goaltenders who won those Vezinas well these names might ring a bell a little bit guys like Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek Oh, how about this one? Martin Brodeur. So, I mean, we're combining all of these things together. And we're seeing this as a type of resume that Connor Hellebuyck comes with. And Tom Fitzgerald finds a way to make a trade. You know, it's kind of funny because I remember in the offseason, people asking him, you know, what's your thing with goaltenders? Do you just not like goaltenders? Because, you know, he went into the season. There was an experiment going with, you know, Nico Dawes. He picks up David Riddick. Jake Allen was already there look Tom Fitzgerald was waiting for a time to strike you know I know I'm sure he was high on Nico Dawes or definitely probably almost certainly higher than I was on Nico Dawes but he was looking for an opportunity to go get another goaltender because Jake Allen look he's played over 40 games once since he won the Stanley Cup back with St. Louis in 2019 Nico Dawes well last year would have been really good if he could have been the backup but instead they signed Jake Allen to a five-year 1.8 million dollars same amount of money he would have gotten on the open market maybe even a little less over five years which would have been a two-year deal on the open market so management was kind of saying how they felt about Nico Dawes you know Jake Allen at this point backup goaltender so Shani Meny you know let's let the season unfold see what happens and uh look he pivoted quick because these are the type of numbers that you were getting i mean it was very clear this devil's goaltending tandem maybe even during a trio eventually it wasn't gonna work you couldn't contend with this tandem they needed help at goaltending they've needed help at goaltending for a while pretty much since Corey Schneider played for the Devils they needed help with goaltending for a while and what does he do he trades for first ballot hall of famer I mean you just think about what you know what was the narrative in the offseason well you know he doesn't really like goaltenders people who know him know this is not really his thing to go after a guy like Connor Hellebuyck and uh well he put all that to bed because Connor Hellebuyck is a New Jersey Devil as of just a couple hours ago. And when you think about what you're getting from Connor Hellebuyck, because his resume is great, and when you think about last year, you know, maybe things didn't completely go in his favor. Well, let's look at the years prior because in 2025, looking at how good he was, oh, well, he was number one in goals saved above expected. Well, what did he do the prior year? oh he was number one again so how about the year before that well that year he was top five how many goaltenders have been top five in the past three years outside of Connor Hellebuyck because the answer is zero so we think about the goaltender we are getting we're getting a goaltender who's still 33 years old and i know i say it you know after 30 i would get more skeptical elite players don't play by the same rules you know there's a different formula we can have for players like that and when you can put up something like you know three Vezinas a Hart Trophy a gold medal win when you put up all those things well you know what maybe i'm not thinking too much about over 30 because these same numbers came when he was 30 and older so Connor Hellebuyck you're getting an elite goaltender who's still elite you're getting a first ballot hall of famer and you're going from you know a tandem that you didn't know what you were gonna get to what i just said a first ballot hall of fame goaltender Vezina winner Hart trophy winner the only thing he's missing is a Stanley Cup and that's what a trade like this does you know the good general managers they stay proactive Sunny Mehta proactive goaltending didn't work um he needs to make a trade and he goes out and he gets a Lambo I mean it's going from you know this may work to well you know what goaltending so far experiment well there's experiment waiting on it wasn't working well let's go get a Lamborghini I mean how many how many general managers do that especially six months into your tenure I mean talk about making a splash making the biggest trade in Devils history I mean I know hindsight's gonna be 2020 we'll see what he does with the Devils I'm expecting very good but in terms of what they were doing ahead of time nobody had a resume like Connor Hellebuyck most goaltenders there's maybe 10 if that that you can name that have a resume like Connor Hellebuyck and when you put a Stanley Cup next to his name which a trade like this makes you a Stanley Cup contender then i mean you're putting him up with i mean i think you already are but when you if you can add a Stanley Cup uh well yeah i mean he's he's you're talking top five i mean that's where you're going i mean i'm just super excited you know i'm having a tough a tough time um you know just uh yeah i'm just very excited that Connor Hellebuyck is a New Jersey Devil and uh look this all works out stunning meta great trade makes the biggest trade the devils have made in franchise history six months into his tenure very excited for the future very excited for the now um we'll see when Conor Hollebuck makes his first start but uh all very exciting stuff and before we end this video just want to wish the best of luck to Alexander Kuman, Dawson Mercer, Nico Dawes, Buckstead you know best of luck going forward hopefully they all have successful rest of their nhl careers uh but look it was a trade the devils had to make and stunning meta makes it and i mean this started today it was today it was you know there's talks things are heating up about conor hollebuck being potentially traded and then it comes out to new jersey devils and stunning meta what a great trade for him what a great trade for the devils this will work out thanks for tuning in today hope you guys enjoyed the video if you haven't already please go ahead hit the like button always appreciate that subscribe button as well thanks for tuning in guys and i'll see you guys all real soon