Connor Hellebuyck set for his New Jersey Devils debut as starter in net at Dallas

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck is set to make his debut for the New Jersey Devils when the goaltender starts at Dallas on Tuesday night.

“He is going tonight, yes,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said after the team’s morning skate.

The start will come four days after the 33-year-old three-time Vezina Trophy winner was traded Friday to New Jersey after his suspension by the Winnipeg Jets for failing to report to training camp.

Hellebuyck spent 11 seasons with the Jets, including a Presidents’ Trophy-winning season in 2024-25, and helped the United States win gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics this year. A fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by Winnipeg, Hellebuyck is fifth on the U.S.-born goaltenders list with 345 career wins. Among U.S.-born goalies with 300 or more career starts, his .916 save percentage ranks fourth and 2.58 goals-against average ranks sixth.

“Sitting at home for so long was getting to me. For myself, I’m just really excited to play hockey again,” Hellebuyck said Saturday, when he spoke to reporters a day after the trade. “I’m joining a very skilled group. They brought me for a certain specific role. I’m really excited to fill that role, not only on the ice but off the ice as well.”

Hellebuyck was skating in Michigan before the trade was completed. He has five seasons left on a seven-year contact with an annual salary cap hit of $8.5 million.

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