Connor Hellebuyck

A big, deep, structurally sound goaltender coming off the worst statistical season of his prime - the question is whether it was the team or the technique.

Season	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV%

2015-16	WPG	26	13	11	1	56	2.34	2	683	.918
2016-17	WPG	56	26	19	4	146	2.89	4	1572	.907
2017-18	WPG	67	44	11	9	156	2.36	6	2048	.924
2018-19	WPG	63	34	23	3	179	2.90	2	2051	.913
2019-20	WPG	58	31	21	5	140	2.57	6	1796	.922
2020-21	WPG	45	24	17	3	112	2.58	4	1335	.916
2021-22	WPG	66	29	27	10	193	2.97	4	2155	.910
2022-23	WPG	64	37	25	2	157	2.49	4	1964	.920
2023-24	WPG	60	37	19	4	142	2.39	5	1798	.921
2024-25	WPG	63	47	12	3	125	2.00	8	1664	.925
2025-26	WPG	57	23	23	11	162	2.86	0	1547	.895
2026-27 so far	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Career	—	625	345	208	55	1568	2.58	45	18613	.916

This Season So Far

The 2026-27 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

57 appearances, a .895 save percentage, a 2.86 goals-against average and no shutouts - well off a career .916 and the first year of his prime that ended below league average. Some of that is a team that gave up more from the middle of the ice than it had before. Not all of it is.

The Physical Game

He is a big goaltender who plays a quiet, upright, positional game and lets the puck hit him. At his best he looks slow because nothing is urgent: he is already where the shot is going, square to it, with his hands out in front rather than pinned to his hips. Circle shots and clean looks off the rush are close to automatic saves.

The depth is the thing worth watching. He sets up deeper in his crease than most of his peers, which buys him time on lateral plays but leaves more net exposed on the first shot, and when his push timing is a beat late the back-door goal is the one that goes in. Last season it went in more than it used to.

Rebound control was the other slip. Pucks that used to die in his chest came back into the slot off the pads, and a goalie who reads plays this well should not be surrendering that many second chances.

The Mental Game

Even. Almost flat, which is his greatest asset - he does not chase a bad goal with a worse one, and a soft first period has never predicted much about his second. Over a long season that steadiness is worth more than spectacular nights.

The caution is that this season was long in a way the others were not, and he was still standing at the end of it without much help. Whether that ground him down or simply happened around him is the read the next 40 starts will settle.

The Intangibles

He handles the puck adequately and does not hurt his defensemen with it, though he will not be relied on to break a forecheck. He plays a heavy schedule by choice and wants the games that matter.

The bet on him is that a season like this one is noise around a technique that has not actually changed. The worry is that it is the first year of a decline, and with a goaltender this deep in his crease, small losses in push speed show up as goals before they show up anywhere else.

The numbers underneath

Recent form

Last 20 appearances, 2025-26, oldest first

.870

save percentage over his last 8, on 185 shots · .883 across these 20

Each bar is one appearance, taller being a better save percentage. Filled bars are .920 or better.

He plays deep, and it is the organising fact of his game. Looking down at the crease, net at the top — he sets up deeper than most.

The depth buys him time on lateral plays and costs him net on the first shot. When the push across is a beat late, that is the back-door goal.

Beaten across, not through. The first shot is his; the second one is the problem. Higher number, more dangerous. Seen from the shooter’s side, so the glove is on the right.

high middle — Sets up square and takes the top of the net away without moving.

low glove — Rebounds off the pad come back into the slot rather than to the corner.

low blocker — Plays deep, so a lateral play beats his push across and finds the open ice at the far post.