The New Jersey Devils announced on Sunday night that Connor Hellebuyck would not start against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre, citing a reduction in their expected win probability. Scott Arniel was asked about it after practice on Monday.
“It’s their decision, and they can do whatever they want,” the Jets head coach said. “I think that it would put closure to it. This doesn’t.”
Then he got to the part he actually wanted to say.
“He just gave up on us,” Arniel said. “And so it’ll be nice to just finally be done with this. All it does is drag it out, and nine more games from now, we’re going to start into it and talk about it again.”
Connor Hellebuyck’s season:
| Starts | Wins | Losses | Shutouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
When do the Jets play the Devils again?
Three weeks from now, which is exactly Arniel’s point. The clubs meet again at the Prudential Center on November 28, he assumes Hellebuyck will be in net for that one, and his players will spend the fortnight beforehand answering the same questions they have been answering since September.
The reasoning is what he took issue with most. Hellebuyck has started five games for New Jersey and won every one, including a 23-save shutout at Toronto on Sunday, which makes the stated explanation hard to follow.
“I’ve seen a lot of analytics in my life since it’s really come into the forefront,” Arniel said. “I’m not sure how this works into the analytics part of it.”
What he kept coming back to was the people left behind. Arniel pointed at the club’s ownership, the supporters and the core players who were there from Hellebuyck’s first season onwards, and said that’s the part he finds difficult.
His captain felt the same way about missing the chance.
“Oh, I would have loved to play against him,” Adam Lowry said, having been Hellebuyck’s teammate from 2015 until the trade. “We’d all be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to the opportunity.”
Kyle Connor also said he was surprised by it.
General manager Sunny Mehta has insisted the call was the organization’s rather than the player’s, saying Hellebuyck was adamant he felt a duty to play. Hellebuyck has said the same, and will explain his reasons for leaving when he meets reporters on Tuesday morning.
New Jersey arrive 13-5-0 and on a five-game winning run, second in the Metropolitan Division. Jake Allen starts.
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