Kyle Connor is propping up Connor Hellebuyck-less Jets
A supremely disappointing 2025-26 season for the Winnipeg Jets appeared set to give way to an equally-if-not-more bleak campaign in 2026-27 as all-world goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request went public and got ugly.
With the star goalie still not traded and suspended by the team for failing to report to training camp, the vibes in Winnipeg were poor after the team went from winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2025 to missing the postseason by 10 points in 2026.
But without Hellebuyck, one of the Jets’ other franchise players has stepped up in a big way, as winger Kyle Connor has notched five points on three goals and two assists through just two games to help power Winnipeg to an early 1-0-1 start with an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins and a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed how Connor’s scorching hot start to the year has injected a bit of hope in what was otherwise looking to be a miserable season in Winnipeg.
Tyler Yaremchuk: One guy who also got off to a great weekend, my man of the weekend is going to Kyle Connor. In two games, he had five points. Three goals, two assists, he racked up 14 shots on goal in those two games. A great start to the season for Kyle Connor, who to his credit, I really liked what he said about Connor Hellebuyck and kind of the whole, ‘Hey would he be accepted back? Would he not?’ And I’m paraphrasing, but Kyle Connor basically said something along the lines of: ‘If he’s going to come back, it’s got to be because he’s committed to being here and not just because he’s coming back because he just doesn’t want to miss out on money anymore. I do think that mindset, Kyle Connor being one of the guys who doesn’t have a letter on, but is a leader for that Jets team, having that mindset of us against the world, I think it’s going to do wonders for them. I even think that’s a thing in Ottawa.
Carter Hutton: 100%. The maturity in certain rooms and leadership, and again it’s such a word that we use so much in media and sports. The culture and all these things, but it’s something that’s real, and it’s really hard to just create it or walk into a room and have a meeting and it happen. The mix of personalities and leadership, I think back to my time in Nashville with [Shea] Weber, [Mike] Fisher, [Pekka] Rinne, these were the guys that run the room… Having a good culture and a good group is very powerful for these NHL teams.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…
