Connor Hellebuyck

Draft Day Musings After a Busy Week

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The 2026 NHL Draft kicks off this evening and round one will cap a whirlwind week across the league. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a flurry of moves of this magnitude and it’s been highly entertaining to track. Over the last seven days Bowen Byram, William Eklund, Jordan Kyrou, Simon Nemec, Valeri Nichushkin and Brady Tkachuk have changed teams and eight first round draft picks have changed hands. 

The rumor mill has been running at full tilt all week and has shown no signs of slowing down. If things fall the right way, we may even be treated to a few big moves during Friday’s first round. With GMs putting the pedal to the floor on offseason moves, I wanted to offer up a collection of thoughts related to this past week’s action and what is on the horizon for the Sabres and around the league. 

The Robertson Saga

Elliotte Friedman reported on Thursday that Jason Robertson had turned down a sign-and-trade offer that would have rewarded him with an eight-year, $15 million contract with Seattle. Later reports suggested that he had also vetoed an extension with the St. Louis Blues. His rejection of the Kraken was a shocking development considering the massive cap outlay they were willing to commit to and now his future is firmly centered around an apparently shrinking list of suitable destinations and the potential for an offer sheet. 

Robertson is one of the few players who is worth, without question, Buffalo’s newly inherited fourth overall pick. That isn’t to say there are others who would be acceptable additions should that pick be traded, but Robertson is the sort of game changing talent who is worth spending a top five pick to acquire. Logic would dictate that Buffalo may not be in the running for him. If Seattle, a no-tax state for the time being, isn’t an attractive enough destination, it would seem likely that he is aiming for a small list of teams that are firm Stanley Cup contenders, in addition to whatever other regional benefits exist. I would be over the moon if the Sabres managed to acquire him with an extension in place. Robertson would immediately level up the quality of their forward group in a meaningful way. I’m sure his list consists of the usual suspects, but his contract asking price could complicate the process for himself and the Stars. It will be far and away the most interesting story to track in the coming days. 

Continue reading →

Who Should Star in the NHL Amazon Series?

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The NHL is diving into the waters of Drive to Survive and Full Swing as Chris Johnston announced that the league had reached a deal with Amazon for a show that will follow 10-12 NHL stars with an expected fall release. 

Interest in the various streaming reality shows has been at a fever pitch, with the productions helping to pull in new fans and new markets for the sports and athletes they highlight. Perhaps no sport has seen as much of an uptick than F1 since the first season of Drive to Survive. It’s fitting of the NHL to get on board with the athlete-centric reality craze but to hitch their wagon to Amazon Prime as opposed to Netflix where the other shows (and sports) have found so much success. Nothing is ever easy with this league. 

Kidding aside, this is a wonderful bit of news. The NHL has been pretty good about adjusting to the shifting dynamics of the modern athlete and finding ways to allow players to promote themselves. There is a notable evolution away from the team-centric mindset to one where the league puts its stars front and center. This is another step in that process and, barring a significant amount of overreach in the editing process, it ought to be a terrific product for the NHL and its stars to hang their hats on. 

In a perfect world we will get the sort of unscripted, natural behind the scenes content we were treated to in the early days of 24/7 on HBO. I’m not sure anyone the show plans to feature will be quite as outgoing as the best parts of 24/7, but the magic of these similar shows has just as much to do with the on-field exploits of the athletes as it does their off-field activities. So long as the product is genuine, I think this will be a hit with hockey fans. And with any luck, it will be a hit with non-hockey fans as well. 

Continue reading →

Hellebuyck is the Rare Goalie Worth the Acquisition Cost

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Finding an upgrade in goal is perhaps the most pressing need of the offseason for Kevyn Adams and the Buffalo Sabres. The sting of missing the playoffs by such a narrow margin is only that much more frustrating when you think of the number of games that slipped away due to leaky goals and below average goaltending.

Devon Levi certainly didn’t wilt under the spotlight after making his NHL debut, and he’ll have the inside track at one of the NHL roster spots come training camp. Who the team chooses to play in tandem with him will be an extremely important decision. It seems unfair to expect Levi to take the bulk of the starts at just 21. Not only would it be unfair to him to add that much more pressure to the situation, but the team would be asking him to take on a workload (45-plus starts) he was ever asked to handle between college or junior.

The incumbents, Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, provide some insurance for the club, though neither truly impressed last year. At even strength, the pair finished with a -5.6 and -7.1 goals saved above expected, respectively. To expect either to share any notable level of workload with Levi – let alone starter’s duties – would be a significant gamble for a team with playoff aspirations in 2023-24.

Assuming the team agrees that neither Luukkonen or Comrie have the ability to provide Levi with a stable partner, they’ll need to mine free agency or the trade market for a suitable option. Perhaps the most notable name that has been floated is Connor Hellebuyck, the perennial Vezina candidate with one more year left on his contract at $6.16 million cap hit. Hellebuyck’s rumored availability has sparked a fair bit of debate over his contract status, workload and acquisition cost.

Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 11.35 – Sniffing Out the Hellebuyck Smoke

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Conference Finals are set to begin and we run through the matchups in the East and West, giving our outlook on both series. We transition to a discussion about Connor Hellebuyck and the fresh rumors connecting him to the Sabres.

The Instigator Podcast is sponsored by Betstamp. Download the Betstamp app by visiting betstamp.app/instigator