With a few weeks to go before the start of Winnipeg Jets training camp, the future of Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck remains a mystery.
The decision to name Adam Lowry rather than Scheifele as team captain has further fueled speculation.
Scheifele and Hellebuyck will spend the final year of their contracts and then become free agents without compensation in the summer of 2024. It’s fair to question their desire to stay in Winnipeg as the window of opportunity for the Manitoba team looms close.
As far as the start of the season goes, it seems to be the status quo.
“Both players are expected to be in Jets training camp,” TSN reporter John Lu said. [Le directeur général Kevin Cheveldayoff] does not intend to replace them in the near future.”
But as the trade deadline approaches, their names will likely make headlines, especially if the Jets aren’t in the playoff race.
The problem for the Jets is that after trading Pierre-Luc Dubois, their depth at center would be very thin if they also traded Scheifele.
“From what I’ve heard, if they accept the loss of Dubois and Scheifele, they want to make sure they have a center player in return,” Elliotte Friedman reported on an episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast.
Hellebuyck is just as important, if not more so, to the Jets. As The Athletic’s Murat Ates points out, there is no internal candidate to replace him as Laurent Brossoit doesn’t have what it takes to be the number one goalkeeper. Prospects Thomas Milic and Dom DiVincentiis are far from the NHL.
Scheifele, 30, scored 68 points, including 42 goals, in 81 games last season.
Hellebucyk, also in his 30s, has compiled a record of 37-25-2, a goals-against average of 2.49 and an efficiency percentage of .920.