General manager Sunny Mehta has made another splash. It is by far the biggest one he has made since taking over as general manager.

The Devils acquired goaltender Connor Hellebuyck Friday afternoon in exchange for a package that includes the following:

• F Dawson Mercer
• F Alexander Command
• F Nick Bjugstad
• G Nico Daws
• 2027 seventh-round pick
• 2029 second-round pick

Hellebuyck has been sitting out of action to begin the season as he awaited to be traded. He formally requested a trade in August after reports came out following the season that he was unhappy. The situation finally came to a head on Friday as he was dealt to New Jersey.

The 33-year-old is under contract through 2030-31 at a favorable cap hit of $8.5 million. 2027-28 begins a modified no-trade clause which allows Hellebuyck to provide a 10-team approved list.

Lastly, the Devils did clear a shade over $8 million in cap space by parting with Mercer, Bjugstad, and Daws.

The Elite Player That Is Connor Hellebuyck

Despite a down year last year, Hellebuyck has been the best goaltender in the NHL for close to a decade. Through 11 NHL seasons, he has a 0.916 save percentage and has won 345 NHL games. 2025-26 was the first season he posted a save percentage below 0.907 in his career. Prior to last season, Hellebuyck posted three straight seasons of save percentages above 0.920. He has been at or above that mark in five of his 11 seasons. The American-born netminder has won three Vezina Trophies throughout his Hall-of-Fame career.

Goals saved above expected (GSAx) is not a perfect statistic, but does a good job at attempting to isolate goaltender play from the defense in front. Over the last five seasons, Hellebuyck has saved 161.97 goals above expected according to Evolving Hockey. That figure is first among 174 goaltenders to play in an NHL game over that time. The rest of the top-five? Ilya Sorokin, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Logan Thompson. The gap from Hellebuyck to Shesterkin is over 15 goals while the game to Vasilevskiy is over 50.

To put further context to how strongly Hellebuyck has graded out in terms of GSAx, here are the figures he posted over the last several seasons:

• 2019-20: 19.86
• 2020-21: 14.82
• 2021-22: 13.61
• 2022-23: 33.62
• 2023-24: 39.35
• 2024-25: 49.48
• 2025-26: 25.91

One last note in regard to GSAx. As mentioned, Hellebuyck posted a save percentage below 0.900 for the first time in his career in 2025-26. Despite this, his GSAx figure, as seen above, was still 25.91. In layman’s terms, the Winnipeg defense was horrific last season. Without Hellebuyck, the Jets would have been closer to Vancouver’s 58 points rather than the 82 points they garnered.

Just How Big Of A Need Was Goalie?

There is no secret. The Devils have largely struggled with goaltenders for a number of seasons. Below are their save percentage figures and rankings over the last several season:

• 2021-22: 0.886 SV% (32nd)
• 2022-23: 0.908 SV% (12th)
• 2023-24: 0.896 SV% (26th)
• 2024-25: 0.905 SV% (9th)
• 2025-26: 0.893 SV% (19th)

To further show their struggles, below are the total GSAx from their goalies in each of the last several seasons:

• 2021-22: -53.69
• 2022-23: 22.19
• 2023-24: -10.9
• 2024-25: 31.76
• 2025-26: 21.89

Not to mention, this season, the Devils currently rank 23rd in team save percentage (0.880) and their total GSAx is -3.56. Hellebuyck has averaged 37.09 GSAx over the last four seasons. Since the 2007-08 season, the highest mark a Devil has posted in one season, according to Evolving Hockey, is 22.2 (Jake Allen, 2025-26).

The Price You Pay

As mentioned above, the Devils parted with a package that consists of forward Dawson Mercer, forward Alexander Command, forward Nick Bjugstad, goaltender Nico Daws, and a couple of draft picks.

Starting with Mercer, the 24-year-old has developed nicely into a solid, defensive middle-six forward who has 20-plus goal upside. A terrific second season where he scored 27 goals and 56 points overall has largely distorted realistic expectations for the Canadien forward. Despite not closing in on that level again (higher output was a 42-point season in 2025-26), Mercer’s defensive on-ice impacts rank in the league’s 78th percentile over the last three seasons. He is a perfect third-line forward who has center/winger capabilities and can play up the lineup if needed.

Command was the team’s 12th-overall pick this year. The 18-year-old is lauded for his two-way capabilities as a center, but was looked upon as some as a slight reach by the team. He is scoreless through six games in the SHL this year but has 12 points in six junior league games (U20 Nationell).

Bjugstad, 34, was acquired by the team prior to the trade deadline last season. The veteran fourth-liner appeared in 26 games for the Devils down the stretch and had two points. He was on the long-term injured reserve and did not appear with the team prior to the deal this season.

Daws, 25, was given another shot in the NHL to begin the season. Through four games, he had a 0.874 save percentage and a -1.75 GSAx. Granted, he did save his best for last as he stopped 15-of-16 in victory for the Devils on Thursday and stopped 18-of-19 on October 15. The 2020 third-round pick has had an interesting beginning with New Jersey. He always put up lackluster numbers in the AHL (career 0.899 save percentage) and had his worst AHL season in 2025-26 (0.892 save percentage), but a six-game run of solid play in 2024-25 earned him a chance to begin 2026-27 with the club. In all, he has a 0.897 save percentage and a -6.68 GSAx across 59 total NHL appearances.

As for the draft capital, the team only parted with a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick. the Devils currently own four picks in the 2027 draft (two in the first round and three overall in the draft’s first three rounds). And six picks in each 2028 and 2029. They do not own a second-round pick in either 2028 (traded to Nashville; Luke Evangelista) or 2029 (Hellebuyck).

Final Thoughts

Outside of the Carolina Hurricanes, no other organization has gotten off to a better start in terms of possession and analytical grading than the New Jersey Devils in 2026-27. The team ranks near the top of the league in shot attempt ratio, expected goals ratio, scoring chance ratio, etc. They finally started to bear the fruit of that in the form of five wins over their last seven games.

Adding Hellebuyck and fixing what is arguably the team’s biggest weakness on paper makes this team a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Hellebuyck, alongside veteran Jake Allen, instantly gives the team the best goaltending duo in the league. Not to mention, it’s a team that has been starved for good, consistent goaltending for years.

Of course, this trade is not risk-free. Goaltenders are often very volatile and Hellebuyck is 33 years old. However, a proven commodity like Hellebuyck decreases that usual goaltender volatility tenfold. Losing a solid defensive forward, with up-the-lineup capabilities in Mercer is nothing to ignore either. However, as said above, this move does move the Devils into the upper echelon of Stanley Cup contenders.