The Winnipeg Jets are treading water without reigning Hart, Vezina and Jennings Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in the lineup — but it doesn't look like there will be any reinforcements coming in his absence.
As hockey insider Chris Johnston reported on the latest episode of TSN's Insider Trading on Thursday, the Jets aren't looking to add a netminder at this time. Instead, the squad is content rolling out backup Eric Comrie, alongside prospect Thomas Milic.
“[The Jets] aren't shopping for a goaltender, they believe they can get through it with Comrie and Milic, that combo, and goaltending hasn't been an issue. But you wonder, could it become one. …The Jets are going to have to kind of plough through this stretch without the reigning MVP of the league in their lineup.”
Hellebuyck will miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery; Comrie has started all three games in Hellebuyck's absence, and lost all of them in regulation.
Johnston reports that, if the team does look to make a move in the near future, they have a couple of trade chips on the roster.
“One interesting thing for them is if they do look to make some moves, they have a couple young players to pedal in potential trades, that being Brad Lambert and Ville Heinola. But beyond that, they're just going to have to find a way to get a little bit more scoring down the lineup, that's an internal focus. …They just have to grind out some wins without their MVP around for the short term.”
Can Eric Comrie, Thomas Milic keep the Jets afloat?
So far, the results without Hellebuyck have not been positive. The Jets lost 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes last Friday, 3-0 to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday and 4-3 to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
With that, Winnipeg has fallen to 12-10-0 and sixth place in the Central Division, a place they weren't anywhere near throughout the 2024-25, President's Trophy-winning season.
Comrie was excellent in 2024-25, posting a 2.39 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in the regular-season. He hasn't been nearly as good this year, sporting a 3.02 GAA and .897 SV% through his first eight appearances, which is just below league average.
As for Milic, he is still waiting to make his NHL debut. After splitting time between the AHL's Manitoba Moose and ECHL's Norfolk Admirals, he was called up after Hellebuyck went down. The prospect has gotten off to a solid start in the American Hockey League this year, managing a 2.14 GAA and .921 SV% over nine starts.
The Jets are about to play a back-to-back, a rematch against the Hurricanes on Friday before travelling to Nashville to play the Predators on Saturday.
The latter matchup seems to be a prime spot for Milic's debut, considering the Preds are the worst team in the National Hockey League. It'll be interesting to see how he fares between the pipes at the sport's highest level.
Either way, the Jets are going to need to find some better play if they hope to climb back up the Central Division without the best goaltender on the planet.
