It’s been nonstop. The discourse surrounding the New Jersey Devils’ decision to sit Connor Hellebuyck for his return to Winnipeg has been all anyone can talk about on Monday. It’s only been a few weeks since the Hellebuyck trade, and many were circling this date on the calendar as a point of entertainment.
Instead, the Devils made the decision to let him sit and wait. And therefore, all of us have to sit and wait to see how Hellebuyck does in his old home, as well.
It’s become clear what a media circus this has become. It’s brought opinions from the cowardice of the Devils organization to the team taking a bullet for a player who did not want to “face the music.”
No matter the truth, the optics are insane. Whether the Devils care about the optics or not, this is going to be a distraction going into Tuesday night. While this was originally a Hellebuyck problem, the way the Devils went about it has turned it into a team-wide problem.
Now, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier have to answer for this. Sheldon Keefe will be questioned for a while, but where this will be the longest answer is for the Winnipeg Jets. And for the first time, we’re hearing from Winnipeg Jets brass on the decision.
Jets head coach Scott Arneil was straight about the Devils decision to sit Hellebuyck
Scott Arniel did not hold back when talking about Hellebuyck, saying the star goalie "gave up on us" and that it would be nice to "finally be done" with the drama surrounding his departure.
"I can feel the frustration of the fans. We wanted to get this put to bed. That’s the biggest thing. Now it’s not getting put to bed here. It’s going to linger."Scott Arniel, Jets head coach
When asked about the Devils mentioning win probability, it sounds like he shared some of the same opinions as most of the Canadian media. He wasn't buying it.
"I’ve seen a lot of analytics in my life since it’s really come into the forefront. I’m not sure how this works into the analytics part of it."Scott Arniel, Jets head coach
The fact of the matter is the way this has been addressed by the Devils feels like a fumble. If anything, the statement was a way to get the media circus to die down by Tuesday. It was a way to get the worst news out and give everyone time to see why. Instead, nobody has believed the reasoning behind it, even if it may be true, and it makes Hellebuyck look bad.
Whether the Devils and Hellebuyck actually care about that is a different story.
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