Jets Get Strong Return for Disgruntled Hellebuyck in Trade with Devils

Has Kevin Cheveldayoff done it again?

The longtime Jets general manager (GM) has a good track record of getting strong returns for players even when seemingly backed in a corner.

In acquiring Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, Alexander Command, a 2029 second-round pick, and 2027 seventh-round pick from the New Jersey Devils in a Friday blockbuster in exchange for disgruntled goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, he appears to have gotten a good haul while ending a six-plus-month saga that was a huge distraction.

Jets Get Help Now With Mercer, Bjugstad, and Daws

Cheveldayoff made it clear on training camp’s opening day, the same day the team suspended Hellebuyck for breaching his contract by failing to report, that he didn’t want “futures” as the main part of the return. He also made it clear he wasn’t operating under any sort of timeline and simply wanted to get the trade involving a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner right.

In Mercer and Bjugstad, he’s gained a pair of established NHL talents who should be able to help the team with their ongoing secondary-scoring issue while providing lineup versatility.

Mercer, a top-six talent, is the highest-profile name coming to Winnipeg. The 2020 18th-overall Devils selection has scored 20-plus goals in three separate seasons, including a career-high 27 in 2022-23, and is known as an competitive two-way talent with strong puck-handling skills and offensive awareness. The 24 year old, who can play centre and right wing, has 103 goals and 110 assists for 213 points in 420-career games but is off to a slower start this season with four assists in 10 games.

He has one year left on a three-year deal worth $4 million annually. Most importantly for the Jets, he will only be a restricted free agent next summer, meaning he can’t test the open market.

“We weren’t going to take a pick-and-a-prospect deal,” Cheveldayoff said during a Friday-afternoon availability. “Dawson Mercer is going to be someone who really fits in… the role that he is going to play for us is not going to be the role’s he’s been playing for this last year,” he continued, adding that being around Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele could benefit his game.

“He competes very very hard… give him a two-way opportunity and he’s the first over the boards all the time.”

Bjugstad is a veteran of 821-career games who has been well traveled: The towering, 6-foot-6 centre and right winger has posted 163 goals and 176 assists for 339 points over his career with nine different teams since being drafted 19th overall in 2010 by the Florida Panthers. The Jets will have to wait a while for the 34 year old’s debut, however, as he is currently out four to six months with a torn pectoral he received surgery on in September.

Much of the speculation over the past number of months was whether a goaltender would be part of a Hellebuyck trade return, and it turns out one was. While Nico Daws isn’t the key guy coming to Winnipeg, he doesn’t need to be as Cheveldayoff insulated the Jets against needing to get an A1 starter by signing Stuart Skinner on July 1 and claiming Clay Stevenson on waivers before the season began.

Daws has more NHL experience than Stevenson with 59 appearances and 54 starts, all with the Devils, since being drafted 84th overall in 2020. The German 25 year old has posted a 26-26-1 record, 2.94 goals against average, .897 save percentage, and one shutout in his career and is in the first year of a two-year contract worth $1.1 million annually.

“Our goaltending situation has obviously changed I guess 133 per cent, or whatever you want call it, from where it was before,” Cheveldayoff said. The Jets will carry all three goalies on their NHL roster for now, he confirmed.

Command Could Be a Steal

In Command, the Jets are basically getting high first-round pick as he was just selected 12th overall in 2026, four picks after Cheveldayoff selected Viggo Bjorck (Bjorck and Command were teammates on Sweden’s gold-medal winning 2026 World Juniors team).

The 18 year old forward will instantly become one of the Jets’ top prospects and could end up being considered the biggest “get” of the trade depending on how he develops over the next number of seasons. Currently playing for Orebro HK in the Swedish Hockey League, Command is someone with a well-balanced skillset; Cheveldayoff said the Jets were interested in moving down to get him if Bjorck went off the board before they chose eighth.

“A toolsy centre who competes extremely hard and plays with a nasty bite,” is how Dobber Prospects describes him. “He wreaks havoc on the forecheck constantly disrupting breakouts with his speed and physicality. He punishes players who are between him and the puck, and once he gains possession, he has the skill to either find teammates in good scoring positions or drive the net and finish himself.”

“Command has the potential to be an extremely effective depth player on any team, especially if he’s in a third line centre role,” The Hockey Writers’ Peter Baracchini writes in a prospect profile. “He can play an energy role, but can also bring that skill if you need to get the offense going and change the momentum of a game. He’s the kind of player that wants to make an impact and he’ll do that; be it establishing an attack, converting on his chances and being a real thorn in the opponent’s side. He can be impactful at even strength and a threat with his shot on the power play.”

“He’s a very serious, no-nonsense type of competitor,” Cheveldayoff said, before praising his strong work ethic and self-awareness.

Cheveldayoff Does Well Despite Challenging Trade Environment

While Hellebuyck had zero leverage despite his trade demand considering he had five years left on the contract he signed to be in his own words, a “Jet for life,” Cheveldayoff was undoubtedly feeling some pressure to get a good return for arguably the best goaltender of the last decade.

Adding to his challenge was that goalie trades are very tough to pull off — and even tougher to pull off when the goalie in question has a no-movement clause and veto power — and that Hellebuyck was arguably a depreciating asset as a 33-year old coming off the worst season of his career and an owner of a poor playoff track record.

“I’m very comfortable with what we accomplished here over a period of time,” Cheveldayoff said, while acknowledging he wished things had wrapped up four or five months ago. “We addressed some needs that we had in our forward group here right now, we added depth to the organization, we added assets that I can use now either for drafting or at the Trade Deadline, and at the end of the day that’s the goal that I set out to try and accomplish here moving forward.”

Who will ultimately “win” the trade won’t be determined until a year or more down the line when we see how each player ultimately performs for their new teams. Whether this return was better than what the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers offered Cheveldayoff ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft could be endlessly debated, and probably will be.

However, at first glance, Cheveldayoff appears to have conducted a tidy piece of work in acquiring a varied haul of assets like he did with Jacob Trouba in 2019 and Pierre-Luc Dubois in 2023. The Jets are undoubtedly better today than they were to start the season and perhaps most importantly, can finally put this saga behind them.

“At the end of the day, Connor made his choice to do it how he chose to do it,” Cheveldayoff said. “As an organization, we had to act accordingly and we did.”

“This is over… the 23 guys that are going to be in that locker room, that’s all we care about.”