New Jersey just landed the best goalie in hockey, and it cost them almost nothing
Connor Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner, is a Devil after the Jets finally blinked on Friday. The price was surprisingly modest, and New Jersey may have just punched its ticket to the Stanley Cup conversation.
In brief
New Jersey just landed the best goalie in hockey, and it cost them almost nothing
The waiting is over. The Jets blinked. And now the New Jersey Devils own the most decorated active goaltender in the NHL.
Connor Hellebuyck was traded to the New Jersey Devils on Friday, October 23, ending one of the longest and most publicly bitter holdout sagas in recent NHL memory. The Jets received Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, the draft rights to Alexander Command, and draft picks in the 2027 and 2029 NHL Draft. No salary retention. Full freight.
Read that package again. New Jersey kept its top defensive prospects, its top-six forwards, and both of its 2027 first-round picks. New Jersey acquired one of, if not the best goaltenders in the league, and they didn't have to trade anyone from their top six, none of their top-six blueliners, their top prospect Anton Silaev, or a first-round pick, even though they have two in 2027. That is a stunning return for a franchise goaltender in his prime.
Hellebuyck is one of the NHL's most decorated active goaltenders. He has won three Vezina Trophies and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2025. He is 345-208-55 with a 2.58 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and 45 shutouts in 625 regular-season games. The numbers are not close to any active peer.
How it got here
This did not happen fast. It was slow, painful and expensive for everyone involved. After privately requesting a trade from the Jets during the 2025-26 season, Hellebuyck went public with his desire to leave in late August. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time NHL MVP was reportedly displeased with the Jets' current direction, as the club finished outside the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
When no deal materialized before training camp, the Jets suspended him. Hellebuyck had been suspended for failing to report to training camp, and he was losing nearly $39,000 a day in salary as the holdout continued. The suspension was set to end Friday, but Hellebuyck forfeited nearly $928,000 for sitting out the beginning of the season.
The timing of the deal was not accidental. With Winnipeg set to host the Heritage Classic on Sunday, the Jets wanted the focus to be on the event, the team and the city, as opposed to any potential drama surrounding Hellebuyck, adding motivation to get a deal done before the weekend. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff got his wish.
"We want to thank Connor Hellebuyck on behalf of the fans of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Jets," Cheveldayoff said. "We had lots of good memories, and I choose to remember those as we continue to move forward. That's what I talked to Connor about today when I called him and wished him all the best. So, thank you very much to him and all his family."
Gracious words for a franchise player who essentially forced his way out. Hellebuyck was selected by Winnipeg in the fifth round, 130th overall, of the 2012 NHL Draft and has played all 11 of his NHL seasons for the Jets. Fourteen years in the organization, gone in a Friday morning press release.
What New Jersey gets
The Devils have been a team looking for a goaltending answer ever since Vitek Vanecek's inconsistency undermined promising rosters in previous seasons. Now they have the answer. Hellebuyck is signed through the 2030-31 campaign at an $8.5 million cap hit. That is five more years of elite goaltending locked in, barring the unexpected.
There is one wrinkle. By missing training camp without permission, Hellebuyck's cap hit is reduced to $8.1 million this season. A small savings, but the Devils will take it. There is no salary retention, so the Devils will be taking on the full brunt of Hellebuyck's contract going forward.
There are 12 games on the NHL schedule for Saturday, including two nationally televised in the United States. Though Hellebuyck won't be on the ice for the Devils when they host the Los Angeles Kings at Prudential Center, it could be a motivated home team. His first game in a Devils sweater will come soon enough, and when it does, Newark's Prudential Center will likely sell out in hours.
What Winnipeg gets
The Jets are in reset mode. For the Jets, it must be a hard pill to swallow when a franchise icon decides to walk out the door, but this trade package should help them enter a new era and revamp the roster. Winnipeg got a former first-rounder in Mercer to try and add to a rebuild as well as a veteran presence in Bjugstad.
The most intriguing piece heading back to Manitoba is Alexander Command. Command, 18, was the Devils' first-round pick at this past June's draft. Taken with the 12th overall selection, the Stockholm native is currently playing in the Swedish Elite League with Orebro HK. The centre has appeared in six games thus far in 2026-27 and is without a point. Raw, but real upside in the long run.
Cheveldayoff was asked about Command specifically. He said that if forward Viggo Bjorck had not been available with the No. 8 pick at the 2026 draft, the Jets likely would have traded down to select Command, which is Cheveldayoff's way of saying the Jets viewed Command as a legitimate lottery-level talent when he was available.
The league picture shifts
New Jersey had the pieces on paper for several seasons. Good defensemen, skilled forwards, a deep prospect pool. Goaltending was always the gap. That gap is now gone. ESPN's Emily Kaplan was among the first to confirm the deal, and reaction across the league was swift: this is a team that just moved itself into the top tier of Stanley Cup contenders.
For Washington Capitals fans following this league in Ovechkin's farewell season, the Metropolitan Division just got significantly more crowded. The Devils play in the same division as the Capitals, the Rangers, the Islanders and the Flyers. A goaltender of Hellebuyck's caliber changes the calculus for every team chasing a playoff spot in that group.
The trade ends months of speculation about the netminder's future after he initially expressed frustrations with the team's direction in April and formally requested a trade over the summer. That turned into an unpaid suspension when Hellebuyck did not report to training camp last month. The suspension cost him just over $927,000. The Devils got him anyway, and they got him cheap.
Hellebuyck turns 33 in May. He is in the back half of his career by any actuarial measure. But goalies age differently, and his numbers last season, even on a bad team, were still above league average. New Jersey's GM Sunny Mehta made a calculated bet that the best is not yet behind him.
Hellebuyck takes his first practice with the Devils this week. NHL.com confirmed Friday that the Devils are already being discussed internally around the league as a club that just changed the contender conversation.
One State Farm Drive, Atlanta, has the championship atmosphere this weekend. But over at Prudential Center in Newark, a very different kind of anticipation is building.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
