Maurice remains a Winnipeg fan

Paul Maurice has never been one to shy away from a microphone or a media scrum. So it should come as no surprise that the former Winnipeg Jets head coach had plenty to say Tuesday about his old club.

Let’s start with the exodus of star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who requested a trade last spring, refused to report to training camp last month and was finally shipped to the New Jersey Devils last week for four players and two draft picks.

Does Maurice have any insight into why a player he leaned on heavily during his final seven seasons behind Winnipeg’s bench — one who signed a seven-year extension with the Jets in 2023 — had such a stunning change of heart?

“I don’t think I know it as well as you might think. You’re gone five years and a lot changes,” said Maurice, who stepped down as the Jets’ head coach in late 2021 and is now in his fifth year with Florida with two Stanley Cup championships on his resumé.

Maurice talked about how families can change the dynamic, noting how his own Panthers team has gone from a bunch of single men to married dads in relatively short order.

Although Hellebuyck has yet to publicly reveal his reasons for wanting out, promising that answers are coming soon, it has been speculated that the backlash following his visit to the White House after the U.S. gold-medal victory at the Olympics last February may have been a factor.

And the Panthers’ bench boss only has to look at his own Florida roster, which now includes Hellebuyck’s Team USA teammate Brady Tkachuk, who forced his way out of Ottawa this past season as an example of American players leaving the Canadian market post-Olympics.

“(The Jets) lost a real good player in their goaltender, but he’s not playing 20 more years. He’s going to be 34 next year. We all come and go.”

Maurice, an Ontario native, said it’s also unfortunate that Winnipeg takes some sizeable public-relations hits whenever a high-profile departure such as Hellebuyck’s occurs. But perception can become reality, and there’s no question Winnipeg is viewed by some players as a place they’d rather not go.

That being said, the 59-year-old — who broke into the NHL as an assistant coach with the Hartford Whalers in 1995 — has seen plenty of change. Are we instead entering a new era of player empowerment, with massive extensions going to young skaters and established stars alike, making existing contracts look increasingly meaningless?

“I guess they have more mobility. They’re unfortunate for the team (losing the player),” said Maurice.

“They (the Jets) lost a real good player in their goaltender, but he’s not playing 20 more years. He’s going to be 34 next year. We all come and go. But, like you did this weekend, celebrate some of the great Jets that have been here. You’ve got some great ones in that room.”

“I do know the guys are playing for the Winnipeg Jets, the guys in that room, love playing here,” Maurice added.

On that front, Maurice said he loved what he saw from afar during the Heritage Classic, particularly the return of so many beloved players from the Jets 2.0 era for the alumni game.

At the top of that list was defenceman Dustin Byfuglien.

“I probably enjoyed that especially. One of the great characters of the game,” said Maurice, who was thrilled “Big Buff” and Winnipeg fans finally got the chance to say a proper goodbye to each other.

“The fans loved him, and how could you not? Certainly the fans, players, coaches, trainers, everybody he interacted with, everybody’s got a Buff story. Whether you played with him or against him.”

Maurice’s daughter still lives and works in Winnipeg, and he wasn’t surprised to see the Jets organization and the city put on a first-class show.

“It was spectacular. It looked like it was awesome. Saw pictures and videos of some old faces. You leave a rink and you don’t see a lot of guys again,” said Maurice.

“When Bryan Little was done, that was the last time I saw him. So to get to see some faces — some a little older like mine… It’s great to see them again. They looked happy and it looked like an incredible event as you’d expect here in Winnipeg.”

Speaking of former players, Maurice was thrilled to see Nikolaj Ehlers, who left the Jets in free agency in the summer of 2025, capture the Stanley Cup in his first season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“Sometimes it’s the right fit, the right place, the right time. He scored some big goals in the playoffs for them. Somehow found a way to get 25 during the year, as he always does,” said Maurice. “You know what, having experienced it you enjoy the feeling of those guys having a summer like that.”

Maurice’s focus these days is on his own team, which missed the playoffs last season and a chance at a rare three-peat but is viewed as a legitimate contender again this year.

The Panthers are currently without three key players because of injuries: Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand and Jacob Markstrom. They club also played 10 of their first 13 games on the road, including Tuesday night in Winnipeg.

“We got a quarter of our road schedule done and it’s not the end of October, so there’s gotta be a payoff there somewhere,” said Maurice.

“It feels like we’ve been after it for a while. I don’t want to say survival mode, but that’s not far off with Barkov out. But we’ve done a pretty good job of surviving, of being able to handle it. Our schedule actually gets worse, we play (six out of 13) to start November. And then we come out of it and get treated like humans.”

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