Sunny Mehta has completely reshaped the New Jersey Devils with his analytics. He’s built one of the deepest offensive groups in the league, traded for Connor Hellebuyck, and seemingly found the final piece of the puzzle. Hellebuyck hasn’t lost since arriving in New Jersey, and he just shut out Toronto on Sunday. Everything looks great.
Then Mehta decided to release one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve seen from an NHL front office.
On Tuesday, the Devils travel to Winnipeg. Hellebuyck spent his entire NHL career there before asking for a trade this summer. It’s his first chance to return and face the fans he left behind. He wants to play. The Devils won’t let him.
Mehta says starting Hellebuyck could reduce New Jersey’s expected win probability. That’s absolute rubbish. Sheldon Keefe says they’re managing his workload after three games in six nights and no training camp. Fine, manage his workload somewhere else. You’re telling me the guy who hasn’t lost since the trade, and just pitched a shutout, is suddenly the wrong choice for THIS game?
To me, this looks more like an attempt to shield him from what Winnipeg has waiting for him. The boos, the chants, and his old teammates who would love nothing more than to beat him. That’s part of the deal when you ask for a trade. You should have to face the music.
Hellebuyck himself should be asking for another trade if the Devils stick with this plan. As a man and a competitor, he should want that crease. He should want the opportunity to shut those fans up and prove his decision was worthwhile. And by his own admission, that’s exactly what he wants.
Brady Tkachuk didn’t hide in the locker room when he returned to Ottawa. He went out there and faced the boos, and it made for one of the most entertaining atmospheres we’ve seen this season. Winnipeg fans deserve that same opportunity. They deserve to rattle Hellebuyck’s cage all night, just like Ottawa did with Tkachuk.
I understand that winning comes first from an organizational perspective. But the NHL is also an entertainment business, and the fans matter. Outside of Tkachuk’s return, this might have been the most captivating regular-season game of the year. New Jersey has managed to take all that excitement away with a statement about win probability.
Hopefully the backlash makes them reconsider, because this is absolutely ridiculous.
