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Winnipeg Jets: Connor Hellebuyck is Gaining Consistency in Mediocrity

By Kyle McCarthy

WINNIPEG, MB - OCTOBER 23: Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets lines up to take the ice before playing in the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic against the Edmonton Oilers at Investors Group Field on October 23, 2016 in Winnipeg, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - OCTOBER 23: Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets lines up to take the ice before playing in the 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic against the Edmonton Oilers at Investors Group Field on October 23, 2016 in Winnipeg, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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I know, I’m beating the drum of Connor Hellebuyck’s poor season again. He was just so good last year, and while I tempered expectations, I expected him to be better than this. And so did the Winnipeg Jets.

The good thing is, this hasn’t seem to hurt the Winnipeg Jets too much, as they’re sitting atop their division with two games in hand over the team behind them, the Nashville Predators.

The Winnipeg Jets goaltending has often ranged from bad to good enough to win, and it’s not ideal. How the team has gotten to this point with this issue, I’m not certain, but I’m also not complaining.

Well, I am, but just about the goaltending moving forward. Things have gone about as well as they could have, taking into account the Helly’s struggles and the defensive deficiencies as a whole.

I firmly believe that an upgrade on the blueline will help him, but it’s worrisome to see Laurent Brossoit come out and dominate with the same squad in front of him. Getting to face Carolina, Chicago and Detroit absolutely helps Brossoit.

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I want to see Brossoit get a tougher matchup here and there, just to see his viability against high-powered teams, in the even that the Jets need him there. He did stop 31 of 32 shots against Buffalo, falling in the shootout.

It’s odd to see Helly with disappointing stats when looking at the Jets. They have the second best goal differential in the West at +28, lead the conference in point percentage and are 8th in the league in goals against (having two games in hand on most of the NHL helps, but they’re 5th in goals scored with the same deficiency).

But while he was getting bombed every other night and mixing in some elite performances, he seems to have settled into a nice, consistent groove, albeit a mediocre one.

Connor Hellebuyck has not chained more than three games together that left him with a save percentage over .900 for the evening, and that’s probably not going to cut it in a playoff series.

But over his last 15 games, he’s sat in the .800s just four times, and two of them were wins. Hellebuyck is gaining consistency, but it’s not yet the great consistency that we saw him with last year.

In his last five games, he has a .908 save percentage, which isn’t great. It’s firmly in the mediocre arena. But if we broaden it to Helly’s last 15 starts, he’s sitting at .917 with a 2.60 GAA and a 9-6 record.

If he can get his season numbers to that arena, I’ll be happy (he’s currently at .908 with a 2.87 GAA). Is the consistency, even a mediocre one, better than an extremely volatile goaltender? I’m not sure.

Would you prefer three goals every game, or half the time with one goal and the other half with five? Probably the former, I suppose. I expect the Jets can score four goals most nights. After all, they’ve done it four of the last five games, and they average close to three and a half goals a game.

But there are nights when you need your netminder to take over, and the Winnipeg Jets are going to need that from Hellebuyck to succeed in the playoffs. He doesn’t have to be Marc-Andre Fleury or Henrik Lundqvist, but he needs to be better.

I like that he’s settling in, but I’d like to see him settle a little higher. But overall, he’s improving. It was worrisome to see him continue to be mediocre so deep into the season. Now? At least we have reasons to be optimistic.

Next. Potent Offense Can Mask a Lot of Issues. dark

The defending Western Conference Champions are next, and Vegas is the team that knocked Winnipeg out last season. A nice little revenge start would be aces.

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