The Winnipeg Jets enter the 2023-24 NHL season with one of the best goalie tandems. Laurent Brossoit helps add stability to a Jets team that already has Connor Hellebuyck. Effectively, this allows Hellebuyck to face fewer shots and high-danger scoring chances next year. This enables Hellebuyck to be fresh for the playoffs if the Jets make it that far next season. And from a competitive aspect, this is a very underrated and savvy move that helps make the Jets a better team moving forward.
Brossoit and Hellebuyck are good friends who share the same agent. This friendship could help be the tiebreaker in getting Hellebuyck to sign a contract extension past next season in Winnipeg, which is the long-term goal. However, signing Brossoit also helps the Jets in the immediate future. Before Brossoit signed, the Jets had zero NHL-caliber goalies on their roster besides Hellebuyck. Now if Hellebuyck were to get traded, the Jets have a goalie in Brossoit who has the talent to play 30-40 games if he can stay healthy. Trading Hellebuyck becomes a little easier of a pill to swallow with a backup plan in place for next season, if need be.
The Tandem Route
Competitiveness on the Ice
Hellebuyck has said that he wants to compete, and it doesn’t matter what city he’s in or what jersey he’s wearing. He wants to compete for the greatest prize in all of hockey, the Stanley Cup. This statement doesn’t open, nor does it close the door for the franchise goaltender re-signing with the Jets; this is because Winnipeg does not want to rebuild.
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Adding Brossoit is a competitive move that will help the Jets move forward next season, as having a goaltender who can form a trusted tandem is one of the biggest tactics in the NHL at the moment. True workhorses such as Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jacob Markstrom all looked worn down and tired in the regular season, the playoffs or both.
The NHL is a copycat league, and the future seems to be moving towards a tandem mentality. Doing so would allow Hellebuyck to play fewer games and be sharper when it matters most (down the stretch and in the playoffs). Previous Winnipeg backups have been far too sporadic and untrustworthy, causing the Jets to bring back Brossoit, a goalie who has both playoff experience and success in Winnipeg in his past. The sky is the limit next season for this tandem, as both goaltenders will try to bring out the best in each other.
Potential Contract Leverage Off the Ice
Both goalies are competitive and don’t have to worry about pushing each other the wrong way during the season. Brossoit, if healthy, will be breathing down Hellebuyck‘s neck pushing for starts. This competitive and friendly environment is a welcome site for Winnipeg, as all the recent talk has been about the locker room toxicity. With Blake Wheeler and Pierre-Luc Dubois finally out of the picture, I personally think team morale is at an all-time high.
However, it is common knowledge that there is a wide variety of things that go into a player signing a contract extension. This includes things such as organizational goals, team outlook, salary, family and player preference. Due to the tight salary cap, the Jets might be the only team willing to pay Hellebuyck what he wants and deserves. One of the tiebreakers in getting Hellebuyck to re-sign in Winnipeg easily could be familiarity and friendship with Brossoit.
The Outlook Is Filled With Hope for the Moment
The Jets have opened up a hopeful opportunity at the goalie position for the time being. At a minimum, they have one of the best goalie tandems heading into 2023-24. While from a futuristic point of view, Brossoit could be one of the factors influencing Hellebuyck to stay in Winnipeg. On the surface, this signing is just an underrated one-year, $1.75 million contract handed out to a solid goaltender. For the Jets, it is an extremely important move in such a pivotal off-season that included trading Dubois. Brossoit was easily my top target to back up Hellebuyck this upcoming season, and the team got it done.
