Would Connor Hellebuyck consider a trade to the Oilers?

No party is willing to comment publicly and sprinkle gasoline on a smoldering fire, but Connor Hellebuyck’s clear preference is to continue his career south of the 49th parallel.

And to be fair, sources say none of Canada’s other six franchises have made overtures to Winnipeg. Yet.

The Montreal Canadiens, in fact, have too many goaltenders in their crowded crease — which is why Sam Montembeault is a good bet to be one of the first players traded this fall.

The Edmonton Oilers are triaging a shaky start for Tristan Jarry, who allowed six goals in his season debut, the 10th game in his last 12 as an Oiler that he let in four or more.

So as we strategize a resolution to the Hellebuyck saga, there is at least one NHL executive wondering: Is Hellebuyck’s decision about Canada an absolute or merely a preference?

If the Oilers continue to reel in goal — Tuesday’s opener made Frederik Andersen’s December debut feel a long way off — could they consider making a play for Hellebuyck? Would Hellebuyck soften his stance to make it a possibility?

“To me, Winnipeg’s biggest weapon here is time,” the executive said. “He wants to play. They can wait him out and make it painful for him.”

Time is certainly a variable worth watching in this standoff. This is not a decision driven by money, but the tab is running on that too. On Monday, Hellebuyck began to forfeit $38,659 per day while suspended for failure to report.

The other variables? Significant struggle or major injury in a contender’s crease, for one.

The Jets could reshape their ask. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned in 32 Thoughts earlier this week, the Jets may not be as pressed to acquire a goaltender in return in the deal if waiver claim Clay Stevenson fills the void.

The flip side of that is if Stuart Skinner stumbles out of the gate. The Jets are trying to sell a bounce-back campaign; they’d be forced to address goaltending at least in part in a Hellebuyck transaction. For the Oilers, that would mean convincing the B.C.-born Jarry to waive his trade protection to go to Winnipeg, where he’d be in tandem with the guy he was traded for 10 months ago. Jarry would be only one part of the puzzle that is complicated in both cap and player capital; Edmonton is short on both.

In other words, it’s not impossible but a real longshot that we see Hellebuyck suit up for a Canadian club again.

While GM John Chayka ponders his next move to improve the Maple Leafs’ chances to win now, Wednesday’s salary-cap transactions brought additional space.

Newly acquired Elvis Merzlikins ($4.428 million) and Cade Webber ($825,000) were added to LTIR before Monday’s season-opening submission deadline for early-season cap compliance. Forwards Max Domi ($3.75 million) and Dakota Joshua ($3.25 million) were added to LTIR on Wednesday to increase Toronto’s cap space to $7 million.

The world is Chayka’s oyster.

As much as Adam Fantilli is likely thankful that he waited until after this summer’s salary explosion to sign his contract extension in Columbus, how many players are kicking themselves for signing when first eligible?

The undrafted utility knife from Camrose, Alta., is arguably the most valuable fourth-line centre in the league. His new contract kicked in this week, but he signed the extension way back on July 1, 2025 — the first day eligible. His deal was four years at $1.7 million per year.

Kelly then scored a career-best 21 goals last season. Watching his snipe in Colorado’s season opening win over Los Angeles, those 21 goals seem far from an aberration. Hindsight is always 20/20, but that $1.7 million AAV was the going rate for fourth-line centres almost a decade ago. How much more would Kelly have earned had he played out the year and gone to market? The ballpark is $5 million per year, a far cry from the $6.8 million total signed for in 2025.

IIHF to elect new president on Friday

The International Ice Hockey Federation is gathering this week to elect a successor to president Luc Tardif on Friday in a place far from where world hockey power is typically consolidated — the Canary Islands in Spain.

There is no shortage of backroom politicking in the lead-up on Thursday as IIHF sources handicap a two-horse race for a four-year term as president: Franz Reindl of Germany opposing Petr Briza of Czechia.

Briza, 61, is Tardif’s current deputy as senior vice president. The former Czech Olympic goalie is the chairman and former owner of HC Sparta Praha.

Reindl, 71, previously ran for president in 2021 but fell short in votes to Tardif. The former German Olympic forward is a longtime executive who also served as Team Germany head coach at the World Cup of Hockey.

It’s difficult to say now who will prevail; there are mini coalitions formed among the smaller of 62 national member associations, where the votes of non-traditional hockey countries such as Turkey or Bulgaria count equally as hockey superpowers Canada, Sweden or Finland.

Hockey Canada president and CEO Katherine Henderson is a front-runner to be elected to the 10-member council. Henderson is one of six female candidates for council; a minimum of three women must be elected, according to bylaws. USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli is running unopposed for regional vice president of the Americas and Oceania.

With hockey’s spotlight on the world stage, the NHL will be closely watching Friday’s results. The IIHF is to partner with the NHL and NHL Players’ Association on the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, as well as the 2030 Olympics and beyond, and sources said there are many action items pending the regime change.