Winnipeg Jets star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will be out four to six weeks to undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his knee, the NHL team announced Friday.
Hellebuyck is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage this season for the Jets, who entered a game Friday against Carolina in third place in the Central Division.
Jets coach Scott Arniel said Friday that Hellebuyck had been trying to play through a knee injury, and the timing is right to get it taken care of.
“It’s been 10 years, he’s been pretty healthy,” Arniel said. “This has kind of been nagging on him here since training camp. Something we’ve known about.
“He tried to play through it. There would be good days, bad days. Timing’s right to get it done now.”
Hellebuyck won his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and his third Vezina Trophy as top goaltender in 2024-25 as the Jets posted the best regular-season record in the league.
The surgery comes less than three months before the start of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Milan, Italy.
Hellebuyck, from Commerce, Mich., was not included in the first group of six players announced for the United States’ Olympic preliminary roster but was widely expected to be added to the team.
Eric Comrie is expected to take the Jets starting role in Hellebuyck’s absence. He is 4-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .908 save percentage this season.
In a corresponding move, the Jets called up goaltender Thomas Milic from the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose.
