Story Summary
Connor Hellebuyck could make his New Jersey Devils home debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday after winning each of his first two starts with the club. The 33-year-old goaltender, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets on October 23, has allowed three goals on 39 shots in victories against the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights.
Hellebuyck has posted a 1.50 goals-against average and a.923 save percentage in those two appearances, but he says the adjustment extends beyond the numbers. He is still learning the names, voices, tendencies and positioning of his new teammates, while the Devils are learning how to react when he leaves his crease to handle the puck.
The potential Prudential Center debut would bring a demanding test. Edmonton centre Connor McDavid enters on a 15-game point streak to begin the season and leads the NHL with 39 points, including 30 assists, in 15 games.
Key Facts
- Connor Hellebuyck was acquired by the New Jersey Devils in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on October 23.
- Hellebuyck has won his first two starts for New Jersey, allowing three goals on 39 shots against Dallas and Vegas.
- The 33-year-old has recorded a 1.50 goals-against average and a.923 save percentage with the Devils.
- Hellebuyck could make his Devils home debut against the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center on Tuesday.
- Connor McDavid has 39 points, nine goals and 30 assists in Edmonton’s first 15 games.
- McDavid became the fastest player in NHL history to reach 30 assists when he did so in his 15th game of the season.
- McDavid has 51 points and 98 shots on goal in 32 career games against Hellebuyck, who has an.888 save percentage against him in those meetings.
- Jonas Siegenthaler said Devils defencemen are still adjusting to Hellebuyck’s puck-handling tendencies and their positioning around him.
IHM Discussion
The early returns have been encouraging for New Jersey, both in result and in the feedback coming from around Hellebuyck. Sheldon Keefe said the goaltender has stepped in with confidence and comfort, while Jesper Bratt described a competitive personality that has fitted naturally into the dressing room and practice environment.
Hellebuyck has also been clear that familiarity is still being built. Communication is part of that process: he said hearing a teammate’s voice supplies information about where that player is on the ice. In front of him, he has particularly liked New Jersey’s puck pressure, ability to remove space and back pressure, which he said has created turnovers.
That mutual adjustment is especially relevant when Hellebuyck plays the puck. Siegenthaler explained that a defenceman must establish whether to stay close to the net or move farther away depending on a goaltender’s tendencies. Hellebuyck is comfortable outside his crease and makes good plays with the puck, but the defenders need repetitions with him before those reads become instinctive.
The Edmonton matchup places that developing relationship against one of the League’s most productive threats. McDavid’s 15 power-play points are all assists, and Keefe highlighted his danger at both five-on-five and on special teams. Hellebuyck, however, resisted reducing the contest to a straightforward duel, stressing that scoring chances reflect the support around both players as well as the time and space available on each play.
Why It Matters
A new starting goaltender changes more than the save percentage on a team sheet. His defenders must learn his calls, understand where he wants them when he handles the puck and develop trust in the choices he makes under pressure. Those details can decide whether a routine clearance becomes a clean breakout or another defensive-zone sequence.
New Jersey have received two wins while that process is underway, and Hellebuyck’s comments suggest he has been helped by the Devils’ defensive work rather than attempting to carry every situation alone. His praise for their pressure and back pressure points to a team structure he believes is giving him useful support.
A home appearance against Edmonton would offer the Devils crowd its first close view of that new partnership. It would also place Hellebuyck opposite McDavid, whose speed, balance and ability to change direction make him difficult to read even when a goaltender has seen him repeatedly.
Mini Q&A
How has Connor Hellebuyck started with the Devils?
He has won both of his first two starts, allowing three goals on 39 shots for a 1.50 goals-against average and a.923 save percentage.
Why are the Devils still adjusting to Hellebuyck?
Hellebuyck and his teammates are learning each other’s voices, positioning and tendencies, including how Devils defencemen should react when he plays the puck outside his crease.
Coach Mark Comment
The puck-handling detail is the part that will take the most ordinary work. A goalie can make an excellent pass on his first night with a new club, but the defenceman arriving for that puck still has to know whether the next play is coming up the wall, through the middle or back behind the net.
Siegenthaler put it plainly: the Devils are feeling out Hellebuyck’s choices and adjusting their own spacing around them. That is not a concern after two wins; it is simply a partnership that needs live repetitions. Against Edmonton’s speed, a goaltender’s decision to leave the crease and a defenceman’s first reaction to it can become a very busy few seconds.
What Comes Next
Hellebuyck could make his Devils home debut when New Jersey host Edmonton on Tuesday. The Devils are then scheduled to host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
IHM Final View
Hellebuyck’s first two Devils starts have supplied wins, strong personal numbers and positive impressions from teammates and coaches. The larger task remains learning the small habits that link a goaltender to a new defensive group.
A possible home debut against McDavid would test that work quickly, but Hellebuyck’s own view is appropriately broad: the matchup is a team game, and the reads in front of him will matter as much as any individual confrontation.