Reports surfaced late in August that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck desired a trade from Winnipeg. With all the Team USA players getting out of Canada, it does not come as a surprise. But the Vezina winner claims he asked for a trade months ago and Winnipeg has not moved on it. So he did the bold thing and came out with the information himself. Now fans of every team are calling for their team to pick up the gold medalist. But if the Colorado Avalanche do it, they will make a huge mistake.

What the Avs would have to give up

If the Winnipeg Jets are going to be anything like the Detroit Red Wings, the ask will be a lot. In return for Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings are asking for a top center, picks, and prospects. I would imagine that the Jets would ask for something very similar from the Avalanche. Both goalies from the Avs would clear the cap and take care of their crease. Unfortunately, Colorado does not own a first-round pick until the 2029 draft. Colorado has a second-round pick in 2027, but the Avs need to rebuild the prospect pool. Winnipeg may ask for a goalie prospect with their eyes on Trent Miner or Ilya Nabokov for the future. For most Avs fans, this would be out of the question.

Salary cap situation

Hellebuyck signed a seven-year extension with the Jets on October 09, 2023. The contract would carry Hellebuyck through the 2030–31 season with an $8.5 million AAV. This is almost one million more than the Avalanche goalie tandem combined ($7.75 million). After this upcoming season, Scott Wedgewood’s $2.5 million should drop off as he becomes a free agent. If you add a backup goalie’ salary into the mix, you are looking at a minimum of $9.5 million on the crease alone. Increasing the salary cap by $2 million to have one serious starter may not be worth it. Cale Makar’s new contract would make it difficult to find any wiggle room anywhere else on the team.

The move could hurt the Avs more than it could help. It could drain draft capital and their prospect pool. This would make it extremely difficult to keep Artturi Lehkonen around as well. The contract would also end the same year that Nathan MacKinnon’s does, so one would have to go. And we can guess who that would be. The financials are not there, and it would be a pipe dream.